


the boy in the iceberg

by freewaffle



Category: Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fusion, An ATLA verse AU, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-21
Updated: 2020-10-03
Packaged: 2021-03-08 01:48:15
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 20,739
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26537572
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freewaffle/pseuds/freewaffle
Summary: “So tell me, how exactly does someone trap themselves inside of an iceberg?” The man’s eyes are dark, and assess him coolly.“I…uh-““You’re lucky I was making a stop for supplies. Otherwise, who knows how long you’d be stuck in there,” Pretty boy continues.“You know, you’re really….” Naruto manages to rasp out, despite the searing pain in his throat.“I’m what?” Pretty boys asks in the same dry, haughty tone.“…Kind of a smug bastard.”-With the Air Nomads driven to near extinction, the Fire Nation's dominion of the world is almost secure. That is, until the new Avatar is discovered in the South Pole by Fire Nation defector Sasuke Uchiha.
Relationships: Uchiha Sasuke/Uzumaki Naruto
Comments: 30
Kudos: 110





	1. water, part 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> two things -
> 
> 1) naruto and sasuke are around 18 here, not 12 - 16 like atla's cast
> 
> 2) naruto has been trapped for a decade, not a hundred years, because the timeline doesn't work otherwise.

**i. the boy in the iceberg**

The details are not relevant. The details won't matter until much later, when it is far too late.

All Naruto knows for now is that he is running - not away, because he would never run away, but to something better. He pats his bison, Kurama, rubbing his massive head in circular motions. He hopes he’s soothing him.

They are in the eye of the storm - the safe decision, the _sane_ decision, would be to turn back. But then he recalls the elders crowding Iruka. _You’ve been coddling the boy_ , they had said. _You must be separated._

And he knows there is nothing for him to return to.

The last thing he recalls is the deep black of a storm, turbulent winds to match his turbulent thoughts, and a piercing chill as he plunges underwater.

Then suddenly, light.

“Wow, you’re actually alive.”

The voice is deep. A man’s voice. Naruto turns his head to see a face. Not just any face, but maybe the most perfect face he’s ever seen. All sharp angles and smooth skin.

“So tell me, how exactly does someone trap themselves inside of an iceberg?” The man’s eyes are dark, and assess him coolly.

“I…uh-“

“You’re lucky I was making a stop for supplies. Otherwise, who knows how long you’d be stuck in there,” Pretty boy continues.

“You know, you’re really….” Naruto manages to rasp out, despite the searing pain in his throat.

“I’m what?” Pretty boys asks in the same dry, haughty tone.

“…Kind of a smug bastard.”

Pretty boy blinks. “Well, I think you’re well enough to walk.” He hauls Naruto up by his arm, and steadies him as he stumbles. “Let me just burn your…thing…out as well, then you should be ready to go.”

 _Burn?_ Naruto thinks groggily. Then, he notices Pretty Boy’s attire. Not the traditional blues of a water tribesman, but red and black winter clothing in the style of the Fire Nation.

“Wait a minute,” he says, confused. “Who exactly are you?”

The boy doesn’t so much as look back at him. “My name,” he scorches the ice encasing Kurama as he speaks, “is Sasuke Uchiha.”

-

Naruto isn't typically in the habit of going wherever complete strangers tell him to go, but he’s stranded in the South Pole with no food or supplies as of now, so he figures he's out of options.

Sasuke takes him to a large, tattered tent at the edge of the village. A man in a thick woolen tunic and a mask covering half his face is sitting near a fire. He holds up his hand casually.

“Sasuke,” he says. “I see you’ve made a friend. My name’s Kakashi, by the way. Would you care for some moonshine vodka?”

“I found this kid inside of an iceberg,” Sasuke tells him in lieu of a greeting. Kakashi sits back in surprise.

“And you decided to adopt the poor thing and nurse him back to health in our tent? How sweet.”

Sasuke’s usual stony expression transitions into something almost petulant. “He’s an airbender, Kakashi. You know what that means.”

Kakashi finally looks up from his book. Naruto is thoroughly confused. It's not as though air nomads were _uncommon_.

“Well, what do you know.” He says, with something like awe. “I should probably tell you now, Sasuke has a rather...committed brother, who is hunting you down. Sasuke is hoping you will lure him.”

 _So this guy’s got an insane brother coming after me. Awesome._ “Why would he want to lure in some asshole kidnapper?”

“To kill him,” Sasuke says simply.

“Okay, none of this makes sense.” Naruto stands up, irritated. “Sure, there’s people out there hunting air nomads. But Fire Lord Hiruzen said he would take care of it, and - “

“Naruto,” Kakashi says quietly. “He didn’t take care of it. Not only that...” his eyes flicker over to Sasuke, communicating something silently, “he hasn't been Fire Lord in a decade.”

“What are you talking about? Actually, you know what - I don’t care. I’m pretty sure this is a scam or something, and I’m heading back to my air temple.” He’s ready to stomp out, when Sasuke catches him by the crook of his elbow.

“Naruto,” Sasuke calls out. To his surprise, he sounds almost uncomfortable. “You do realize the air temples were evacuated a decade ago, right?”

Naruto’s heart stops.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

It is Kakashi who speaks next. “To be honest, I was surprised to see you because there are barely any airbenders left in existence. I’d assume you were aware of this, but I apologize if we’re the ones to break the news.”

His heart is hammering. He chokes down his rising panic to force out a response. “And why exactly would the air temples be evacuated? What have we got to run from?”

Sasuke and Kakashi exchange a look, before Sasuke meets Naruto’s eyes instead. “Because otherwise, Fire Lord Danzo’s armies would’ve killed them.”

-

**ii. the avatar returns**

It is impossible to sleep. It is impossible to be alone with his thoughts, and impossible to be with others. Sasuke and Kakashi allow him to stay with them indefinitely, but skirt around him awkwardly, and he almost wishes for Sasuke’s taunting again. He is certain it would be more bearable than his silence.

One night, after he wakes up in a cold sweat with the heavy realization that they are dead, they are likely all dead, Iruka, and the elder monks, and his peers, and all the people he’s meant to protect, even the bison, possibly, and that Iruka will never gather him up into his arms again, he stumbles out of the tent and walks over to the edge of the ocean. The moon reflects in the unfathomable darkness of the water. He hears footsteps padding in the snow behind him.

“You’re going to catch a cold,” Sasuke admonishes, which is frankly a ridiculous way to approach someone who has potentially lost everything. But Naruto is too weighed down by sadness to muster up anger.

“I don’t need babysitting, Sasuke,” He tells him. Sasuke doesn’t respond, but shifts awkwardly next to him.

“Do you want tea?”

“Not really.”

Sasuke is silent for a moment.

“...Do you want vodka?”

 _Fuck_ yes he wants vodka.

They crack open Kakashi’s bottles and start a fire, as he sleeps soundly across the tent. Half a bottle in, Naruto can feel something coming loose inside of him.

"Are you seriously just keeping me around so you can use me as bait for your shithead brother?"

Sasuke blinks, slowly. "That's most of the reason, yes."

"And what's the rest of it?"

Sasuke looks at Naruto like he's stupid. "You're the Avatar."

Naruto almost spits out his vodka. "How - how the hell did you figure that - "

"Well, let's see. You are awfully cagey about the subject, the Avatar was rumored to be an airbender and you are one of the few in existence, you were glowing when I found you in an iceberg, and I'm not an idiot."

Naruto slumps back against his sleeping bag. He's always hated his title. Rather than bringing him the attention and affection he craved, it marked him as an eternal outsider. As a target. As a threat.

"So you really think you could just kill your brother, huh?" Naruto doesn't know why he's being argumentative. He just wants to fight someone. "Let me tell you, as someone who just found out everyone he loves is probably dead - it's not gonna be easy to kill family."

"Itachi killed everyone I knew and loved. My entire clan." Sasuke says, smoothly. "So I imagine it will be very easy, actually."

There is silence.

It's cold comfort, knowing he's not alone in being, well, alone. It makes him oddly sympathetic to Sasuke. He doesn't know what to do with the feeling. Luckily, Sasuke speaks before he has to.

"You're not a hostage," he says, closing his eyes. "My brother will follow you wherever you go, regardless of whether you stay with me and Kakashi. In fact, it's probably better you pack up in the morning and forget you ever met me."

"Oh yeah?" Naruto says, tartly. "And why's that?"

"Because I don't give a damn about this war, or anything else, so long as I have my revenge."

"Maybe I don't either," Naruto tells him, eyes hard and challenging. Sasuke scoffs.

"You're the Avatar. You have to give a damn."

Naruto doesn't respond to that. He goes outside in the frigid air, and gazes at the polar lights for a very long time.

-

He wakes up to rough, brown hands furiously shaking him.

“Airbender,” a street vendor they had bought from earlier is inexplicably in their tent. “Wake up! You must leave immediately.”

“What’s going on,” Sasuke asks groggily from the sleeping bag next to him, lifting his head from his own blanket. Kakashi, somehow, is still asleep across the tent.

“Akatsuki. They seem to believe you are the Avatar, and capturing you is among their chief aims.” The vendor says simply. He turns back to Naruto. “They have scouts everywhere, and must have seen you. You must leave, or we will have no choice but to turn you in.”

Naruto groans and sits up slowly, too exhausted to be truly alert. Sasuke, on the other hand, has bolted upright.

“By any chance,” He begins, “Does this Akatsuki member happen to resemble me?”

The street vendor scratches his chin. “Come to think of it, you could be kin - oi, where are you heading off to?”

Naruto can barely register as Sasuke darts to the tent flaps, and his stomach sinks as he realizes what it must mean.

Sure enough, the man at the center of the village bears a striking resemblance to Sasuke. Except his hair is long and gathered into an elegant low ponytail, and dark shadows are etched beneath his eyes. There are two flags on his ship. One with the familiar insignia of the Fire Nation, a black flame, but with a slash through it, indicating defection. And another, unfamiliar - he can only assume it is the Akatsuki’s crest.

“If you bring me what I seek, I have no quarrel with you,” Itachi is approaching an elderly villager. Children hide behind their mothers, clearly threatened by the presence of a firebender.

“Itachi,” Sasuke hisses, and Itachi stops, just for a second. But when he turns around, he is painfully calm.

“Sasuke.” His eyes flicker from Sasuke to Naruto, and then up and down his Air Nomad clothing. “It's been a long time, hasn't it? I see you're housing air nomads now."

Sasuke whips around to snarl at Naruto. “You should’ve ran! What the hell is wrong with you?”

“I wasn’t gonna let you fight this guy alone!” Naruto snaps. “Try being grateful you have backup!”

“This is my fight,” Sasuke says simply, and faces Itachi. Heat emanates from the tips of his fingers, but rather than the fire Naruto expects, there is a crackle of electricity. _Lightning. He can bend lightning._

He directs the lightning towards Itachi, who looks at him with deceptive stillness, when a hand catches Sasuke’s wrist and forces his attack to fire in the opposite direction.

“Kakashi,” Sasuke growls. “You chose a great time to intervene.”

“If you had fired at him, he would have redirected it towards you. I taught you better than that, Sasuke.” Kakashi looks over at Itachi. “You should have woken me up. You have no chance of beating him right now.”

“As if you do,” Sasuke bites out venomously.

Itachi, clearly tiring of the halted action, casually grabs onto the village elder and holds a knife up to her neck. The crowd around him is petrified.

“Turn yourself in, airbender,” Itachi stares at Naruto intently. “Or the elder dies.”

He doesn’t give himself time to think. “I’ll go with you,” Naruto tells him, ignoring Sasuke’s obvious shock and Kakashi’s warnings against recklessness.

“Leave the villagers and your brother alone, and I’ll come with you.” He doesn’t allow himself to look back at Sasuke.

“Very well,” Itachi says, but continues holding onto the elder as Naruto climbs aboard his ship, escorted by guards in heavy armor. He has almost entered the ship, when he hears Sasuke behind him.

“Wait.”

Itachi waits expectantly. Sasuke is quaking, but his anger from earlier has abetted slightly. “Fight me, Itachi. If I defeat you, let him have his freedom.” Itachi sighs. “You’re no match for me Sasuke. You lack hatred and resolve. Leave me to complete my mission. I have no use for you.”

"I'm not finished with you!" Sasuke cries out.

"Yes, you are." Itachi replies, and the ship closes behind them.

-

_If I defeat you, let him have his freedom._

Naruto doesn't know what the hell that was about. Sasuke didn't give a damn about the war, or about him. He had no reason to vouch for his freedom.

But he has no time to think on it now. Itachi may be more powerful than him, but he was no slacker. He lacked the refinement of traditional airbending, but his fighting style possessed a certain brutality that had made him a force to be reckoned with in his later years of training.

Besides, he had one quality that most other airbenders didn’t, one these men wouldn’t expect. He wasn’t reluctant to kill.

“So you guys have been hunting airbenders for years now, huh? Hoping to find the Avatar? Any luck?” Naruto asks, grinning. The guards ignore him.

“I’d be surprised if you’d even caught any. We’re not exactly easy to hold down.” 

“That’s because most of you are already dead,” one of the guards snorts. _That one dies first,_ Naruto thinks.

He waits until they reach the edge of the hall, and launches himself onto the ceiling, using the edges of the guard’s helmets to cut through his ropes. He flips over and lands in front of them, considering his options. He could run. But it would be so much more satisfying to kick their asses.

“Your tricks won’t work on Itachi,” one of the guards says.

“What tricks?” Naruto grins. “Like this one?” He wills himself to focus on the air within the guard’s body, and siphon it through his lungs. Sure enough, he latches onto it, and the guard begins choking.

“What the fuck are you doing?” The other guard snarls at him, but it’s too late. His companion has been sucked dry.

“Sure you still wanna fight me?” Naruto asks. He can see the guard swallow, and step meekly to the side.

Alright. The next thing to do was find where they’d kept his staff - it had been confiscated as soon as he stepped onboard - while also somehow avoiding running into Itachi.

He finds a room at the edge of the corridor to take shelter in. Inside, he sees what he’s been looking for.

_Now that I’ve got my staff, I can get the hell out of here and -_

“You didn’t really think I wouldn’t have a plan in case you broke out, did you?” Naruto turns to see Itachi sitting in the corner of the room, his hands clasped together elegantly.

“Nah, I pretty much expected you’d show up to be a pain in the ass sooner or later.” Naruto growls. “Get up. Fight me and we’ll get it over with.”

Itachi looks away contemplatively. “There is just one problem.” He walks over towards the door, and stands in front of it. “I can’t allow you to escape, but I can’t kill you either. You’d just reincarnate, and our problem would begin all over again. But your death is the only rational outcome of a battle between us. So instead, I would like for us to have...a conversation.”

“A conversation,” Naruto deadpans.

“Precisely. Now, you may not be inclined to listen to me - “

“Well, you did threaten to kill an old lady in front of me, so - “

“But what I want is peace,” Itachi cuts him off. “You may not feel it yet, but you are a superweapon. A superweapon that the Water Tribes, Earth Kingdom, or even rogue bands of surviving Air Nomads may use to attack the Fire Nation. Conversely, the Fire Nation will stop at nothing to capture you, often raiding and killing innocents along the way.” Itachi circles over to him, and Naruto looks him dead in the eye.

“If you surrender now and disappear, the Fire Nation will continue to wage war, it’s true. But the other nations will surrender or lose, one way or another, without the Avatar. And the Fire Nation will emerge as the sole power in the world. It may seem unbalanced to you, but a world under the rule of one nation would at least be stable. Particularly when every nation under its control is not innocent either.”

Itachi leans in close to his face. “So it’s up to you now, Avatar. What will you choose? Continue to resist, to feed the weaker nations’ desire to resist the Fire Nation, nations that host their fair share of corruption, and lead to prolonged bloodshed? Or surrender now, shorten the bloodshed, and allow the Fire Nation stable, if dictatorial, rule?” 

Naruto doesn’t know how to respond. Was resisting selfish? Was his presence, the mere hope that he may be alive, breeding conflict and war? And why the hell was a defector talking like this?

“Sometimes,” Itachi continues, quietly, “you have to sacrifice a relatively smaller number of lives to save the many. You must come to a decision, Avatar.”

Naruto doesn’t get a chance to respond, for all of a sudden there is a violent crash in their vicinity. Itachi looks at him coolly.

“I’m afraid I’ll have to address this distraction,” He says. “Perhaps we can continue this conversation after I’ve killed our guests.”

Itachi steps neatly through the door, and Naruto wastes no time in speeding past him - however strong Itachi may be, Naruto is an airbender, and he will always outrun him - only to recognize a dull groan that could only belong to Kurama.

_What the hell? Did Kurama really find his way here?_

The sunlight reflecting off the glaciers is almost blinding as he squints up, but he can identify a familiar outline. Sasuke’s outline.

“Sasuke!” He cries out happily. Naruto doesn’t get a response, as Sasuke has jumped off of Kurama, pulled out his sword, and sliced cleanly through a number of soldiers Naruto hadn’t noticed were behind him.

“I could’ve gotten those,” Naruto grumbles.

“Maybe try for a ‘thank you’,” Sasuke scoffs.

There is a crackle of lightning, and Naruto registers Kakashi behind him, aiming at soldiers with a precision and ferocity he had never expected of him.

“You showed up too?” He eyes him incredulously. Kakashi shrugs. “Unfortunately, yes,” he says, and actually electrocutes an incoming soldier. “As it is, you’re the Avatar, so the priority is keeping you alive.”

Naruto turns to Sasuke. “But what about Itachi?”

Sasuke is stone faced as he speaks. “I can’t fight him right now,” He says slowly, as if the words hurt for him to admit. “I will kill him. But not today.”

He looks at Naruto. “For now, we need to get out of here.” 

They race towards Kurama, who is shaking Fire Nation soldiers off his massive head, when a sudden burst of flame cuts through their path. _Blue fire,_ Naruto realizes, in amazement. 

He whips around to see Itachi, in perfect stance. Kakashi gets in front of him, defensively. From the corner of his eye, Naruto can see Sasuke fighting to keep his temper in check.

“Kakashi,” Itachi says politely, in greeting. “It’s been a while. I wonder how you’ve progressed since our last encounter.”

“Well, your little torture session had me out cold for a few weeks, it’s true,” Kakashi tells him, casually. “But it’s three against one right now. And even you aren’t infallible.”

His gaze rests upon Naruto, briefly, before he looks away.

Naruto feels heat, coming towards him again, in a sudden burst. It is hard to see clearly, with Itachi’s blue flames clashing against Sasuke and Kakashi’s red. He sees a barrage of soldiers heading their way, and watches as Sasuke executes a swift, perfect kick that hits the one in the middle right in the nose. Naruto blasts the rest of them away with his staff, and in a brief moment of synchronization, his wind fuels Sasuke’s blasts of fire.

They catch each other’s eyes, for just a moment, until a blue fire blast grazes Sasuke’s arm.

“Shit!” He cries out, clutching his wound. His left arm will be of no use to him for the duration of the fight, Naruto can tell. Distracted by the sight, he misses the crackle of electricity behind him.

“Naruto!” Sasuke cries out, and suddenly he is in front of him, shielding him. The spike of lightning, aimed by a Fire Nation soldier behind Itachi, doesn’t hit him square in the chest, but the force is enough to knock him unconscious, and he falls overboard into the icy water.

-

Naruto can’t identify what exactly happens to him afterwards. Only that something seems to shatter inside of him.

With a sudden surge of power and a strange, pervasive sense of calm, he manipulates the sea water so Sasuke’s body is lifted safely onboard. Then, he pivots the same water in a perfect, calculated strike that knocks half the men onboard unconscious. He solidifies the water into ice, and aims it at Itachi. Itachi’s brows are furrowed in tension and genuine apprehension for the first time, but Naruto feels steady, eternal - as if he has done this a thousand times before.

The last thing he sees before he loses consciousness is Itachi’s stricken face as he launches the spikes towards him.

He wakes up on top of Kurama, already flying through the night sky, and sees Sasuke’s face hovering above him. He sits upright, startled.

“Are you okay?” He asks frantically.

“Hell no,” Sasuke replies. Naruto notices his fingernails are tinted blue and he is wrapped in a heavy parka. Ahead of them, Kakashi sits atop Kurama’s head, his hands on his reigns.

“Good to see you awake, Naruto,” he says. “You gave us quite a surprise back there.”

“Yeah, about that…” Naruto rubs his aching head, “I have no idea what happened.”

“You suddenly became a master waterbender, is what happened,” Sasuke says skeptically. “It’s bizarre. You weren’t a complete disaster at fighting, but you weren’t _that_ good before you started glowing.”

“Thanks, bastard,” Naruto says bitingly, before noting the second half of his sentence. “Wait - I was glowing?”

“It must be the Avatar State,” Kakashi tells him. “You channeled every one of your past lives, their skills, experiences, and instincts. It’s an enormous boost of power, but it takes a lot out of you when you don’t have any control. At least, none as of now.”

“So you’re saying I can do that on purpose if I practice?” Naruto says excitedly. Sasuke seems torn between being annoyed and impressed.

“Something like that. I’m not really an authority on all this.”

“In the meantime,” Sasuke says, “We need to get him a waterbending teacher.”

Naruto turns to him in surprise. “You’re...gonna help me find one? Why?”

“Because you have an entire armada and a radical sect lead by my insane brother after you, idiot. Clearly you need all the help you can get.”

“Last I checked, I was the one who saved your ass,” Naruto says, but can’t help the joy that surges through him at the thought of traveling with Sasuke.

“You got lucky,” Sasuke smirks.

The air grows warmer as they fly further away from the South, and for the first time since discovering his true identity, Naruto’s heart feels light.

-

**iii. the southern air temple**

Naruto’s peace of mind unravels as they fly farther, and news of surviving Air Nomads remains scarce.

“Well, there's definitely been sightings reported. They don't want to be found, for obvious reasons, and it might be best to not disturb their hiding places,” Kakashi points out. But Naruto is unperturbed.

“I have to see if they're out there. We have a better chance of fighting back if we’re all together,” he says firmly.

And besides all that, the truth of the matter is that the loss of the air nomads slowly claws away at Naruto’s sanity. As a child, he’d been isolated, groomed to be the next Avatar. He had been judged and found lacking by the elder monks, and their dismissiveness had been passed onto the children - his peers. But he had had hope, that with enough work and dedication, he would establish himself as a valued member of their community.

Until it had all been ripped away from him at once, with a cold finality.

“The Southern Air temple was the most fortified of all Air Nomad bases,” Naruto says. “That's where we need to look.”

“It won't help,” Sasuke says bluntly, and Naruto feels anger course through him.

“Yeah? And what makes you so sure?”

“Because I get what you're trying to do, and I know it won't help,” Sasuke replies, unphased. “You want to go back to your old home. I get it. But whether or not you find survivors, it's not gonna replace the people you've already lost. It’ll just make it worse.”

“So I should be like you then, Sasuke?” Naruto snaps at him. “Just focus on obsessively killing one person as if that’s gonna replace what you lost?”

Sasuke’s face closes up, and Kakashi steps in between them, warding off a potential fight.

“Settle down, boys.” He says. “Naruto, we can look for survivors at the Southern Air Temple. That's a reasonable request. But try to prepare yourself - a lot can change in the decades you've been gone.”

 _Obviously_ , Naruto thinks. Did they take him for some starry eyed moron?

They flew Kurama to the mountain range in which the Air Temple was nestled and hidden away. They land and trek up the mountains once buildings become visible. Naruto’s heart clenches at the sight of familiar yellow and orange, now faded and crumbling away.

“This is a temple?” Sasuke asked, looking around in surprise.

“It’s more like a bunch of temples, plus housing for people who, you know, were trained to fight and everything.” Naruto squints into the mist. The spiraling building structure, steep mountain range, and aerial advantage for the Air Nomads must have made conquest difficult.

They come across a large room lined with statues, towards which Naruto feels the strangest pull.

“Well, would you look at that,” Kakashi says. He traces the outlines of one of the statues. “It’s your past lives. This must be the Avatar before you.”

“Madara Uchiha,” Naruto replies automatically, and Kakashi and Sasuke look at him in surprise.

“What?” He says in response to their questioning glances. “I just know! More weird Avatar stuff, I guess.”

“...He wasn’t a very esteemed Avatar,” Sasuke says, looking skeptical. “People in our clan said he went mad.”

“He was also known as Madara the Betrayed, among some,” Kakashi says. Sasuke shrugs.

“Father always told me to not listen to things like that. Not that the Senju leadership he wanted to tear down ended up doing anyone much good.”

“Can we have this whole history lesson later?” Naruto snaps impatiently. “We need to look for survivors! We can split up or something.”

“Whatever you think is best,” Kakashi replies indifferently, and the casual acceptance between him and Sasuke that there will be absolutely no one left at the temple makes Naruto’s blood boil.

He stomps out, fuming, determined to prove them wrong.

There are tattered bits of cloth, scattered bones, and in some cases, rooms with the lingering stench of rotting flesh. Naruto thinks that this must mean at least some of the kills here were relatively recent, and his heart sinks.

He manages to maintain hope, that there will be someone, somewhere out here, but all he finds is room after room littered with skeletal remains. He slams doors shut, looking away every time, until one particular remnant is impossible to ignore. A skeleton with a familiar necklace.

That belonged to Iruka.

The grief that rips through him then is unlike anything he has ever felt. He falls to his knees, shaking. _You already knew he was dead. You knew you wouldn’t find him._ Yet part of him had hoped anyway, that much like their games of hide and seek when he’d been a child, Iruka would be just around the corner, greeting him with a warm smile.

Instead, he was gone. Killed in the worst possible way, for the cruelest possible reason, without Naruto there to protect him.

His grief recedes, and suddenly he is numb with rage, letting the blank tranquility of the Avatar state engulf him.

—

“We need to leave, or he’s going to blow us straight off this mountain!”

Naruto recognizes Kakashi’s voice distantly, urging Sasuke to leave. He feels nothing at the sound of his fear and panic. What did any of it matter?

“Maybe we can snap him out of it if we get closer,” he hears Sasuke say, and Naruto wonders why he’d bother. If they come any closer, he is certain he will kill them without a second thought.

“You can’t reason with him when he’s in that state,” Kakashi is reprimanding Sasuke. The winds around Naruto grow increasingly violent, and the rest of their argument is drowned out by their howl.

An immeasurable amount of time passes before he hears Sasuke’s voice again.

“Naruto!” He cries out, his voice strained. “You’re angry. I get it. I’ve been there, obviously,” he pauses heavily, like he’s not sure how to articulate what comes next. “But if you give up now - if you let it get to you, and blow us off this mountain - all you’re doing is letting them win.”

 _They’ve already won_ , Naruto thinks.

“And what I said before was true. Nothing is going to replace them, and ruminating on it will only make it worse. There’s nothing you can do to bring them back. But you can avenge them.”

Naruto thinks then, of Sasuke going through his morning katas with precision, and how thrilling it had been to fight alongside him. He thinks that maybe there is one thing left he's afraid to lose.

The winds recede, and he falls.

“Thank god,” Kakashi breathes out from behind them, and he feels Sasuke catch him before he can hit the ground.

“I want them dead,” Naruto says bitterly.

“I know,” Sasuke replies. “I will help you.”

Kakashi walks over to them, and hesitantly places his hand on Naruto’s shoulder.

“For what it’s worth, I’ve lost a few people myself,” He says. “None of us here have led a charmed life. But new companions can ease the pain you’re feeling, believe me.”

Naruto leans his head against Sasuke’s chest, and clutches his arm tightly, too exhausted to feel embarrassed about their closeness. To his surprise, Sasuke doesn’t let go of him either.

-

**iv. imprisoned**

The town they camp outside of has been thoroughly ravaged, paint peeling off houses, window curtains coming apart in tatters. It appears to be mostly abandoned, and the few residents are empty eyed and distracted, as if not really registering their arrival.

Most foreboding, however, is the presence of Fire Nation soldiers on the corner of every street.

“This town has clearly been occupied for some time,” Kakashi tells Naruto. “Lay low - absolutely no airbending for any reason.”

Naruto pouts a bit at this. Airbending was second nature to him, whether he was adding a burst of speed to his movements when necessary, or just conjuring gusts to mess up Sasuke’s hair, to annoy him. But he’d restrain himself for now - he and Sasuke decide to concentrate their level best on beating each other’s asses _without_ bending.

“That was a bad move,” Sasuke remarks, looking almost bored, which is just infuriating. Naruto swings another kick at him, and he actually catches his leg to flip him over.

Naruto rolls on the ground, in pain, thoroughly annoyed as he sees Sasuke with his damned smirk.

“You know, for the Avatar, you’re kind of a loser.” Sasuke strolls up closer to him, casually, and Naruto lets it happen, waiting until his guard is completely down to bolt upright and upset his balance.

He laughs as Sasuke stumbles to the ground. “Did you seriously just get tripped up? What kind of a lame ass prodigy are you?”

Sasuke shakes it off and gets back into fighting stance. “Don’t think that this is over.”

“Actually, it is.” Kakashi seems to have suddenly materialized behind them. His expression is uncharacteristically grave, a frown discernible underneath his mask.

“Sasuke, there’s something we need to talk about. ” Kakashi says. “There is someone you might see, and I need you to be prepared.”

Sasuke’s face darkens as he seems to come to a realization, and Naruto looks at them both in confusion.

“What? Who are we gonna see, Itachi?”

Sasuke shakes his head slowly. “No. Someone I was...affiliated with for some time, has set up his so called medical bases here, I presume. A scientist named Orochimaru.”

"He worked for the Fire Nation for most of Hiruzen’s reign, before they finally accepted they couldn’t let him keep committing atrocities. Hiruzen always wanted to maintain some illusion of humane colonization, I suppose.” Kakashi explains. “But now that Danzo Shimura is Fire Lord, I’m willing to bet he’s working directly for them again.”

Kakashi prods the fire with a stick. “Sasuke, I need you to promise me...you won’t be tempted this time.”

Naruto’s stomach turns as he understands Kakashi’s meaning. “Tempted...Sasuke, did you seriously work for this guy?!”

“No,” Sasuke replies, coldly. “He offered me aid in killing Itachi, and I accepted. I realized after some time that I didn’t need him. That’s all.” Sasuke refuses to meet Naruto’s eyes, but Naruto can’t look away from him.

“Revenge brings you nothing good, Sasuke,” Kakashi says tiredly. “I have always told you that for a reason. It lead you down a dark path already.”

“Spare me the lecture, Kakashi,” Sasuke replies, bitterly.

Naruto knows he should drop it, but he can’t help himself. He waits until they’re getting ready to sleep that night, before he confronts Sasuke.

“Sasuke,” He whispers. No response. “Sasuke!” He tries with more urgency, and receives an irritated “what?”

“Did you ever...you know...help Orochimaru out?”

Sasuke doesn’t look at him for a long time, but when he turns to him, he’s smirking.

“What would you do if I did, Naruto?” He says. “Would you turn on me and travel on your own?”

“I…” He doesn’t know how to respond to that. Because practically, he should say yes, I would leave. But he’s not entirely sure on that, and he doesn’t know how to justify that to himself.

“Well, you’re a different person now,” Naruto begins, argumentative, and Sasuke looks increasingly amused. Naruto looks away from him, annoyed with both Sasuke and himself.

“I didn’t help him medically experiment on prisoners,” Sasuke says dryly. “In fact, it’s part of why I attacked him. He was just like Itachi to me, a power hungry egomaniac playing god with people’s lives, for his selfish gains. I had a few...friends, I suppose you could call them that, who also wanted him dead. Don't know if they're even alive now." Sasuke turns to his side, facing him, looking contemplative.

“I’m surprised you tried to make excuses in case I did help him.” He says, thoughtful. For some reason, Naruto feels his face heat up.

“Well, I didn’t really think you did! I was just wondering and - that’s all!” Naruto sputters, appalled with himself. “But even if you didn't help him out, was being with a guy like that really worth it?”

“Itachi is a lunatic who needs to be wiped off the face of the earth, so, yes.” Sasuke says, with a chilling steadiness to his voice.

Naruto can’t reconcile the philosophizing, almost stable Itachi he had encountered with the madman who haunts Sasuke’s every waking moment - but Itachi must have been trying to manipulate him that day on the ship. Someone who had committed a mass slaughter in front of his brother couldn’t be acting out of some higher purpose.

“Well, anyway,” Sasuke says, “That’s why I’m a fugitive. I was marked a traitor for joining Orochimaru after he was no longer officially affiliated with the Fire Nation. Not that I really care.”

“And Kakashi? He just tags along?"

“Danzo thinks Kakashi is after his throne, because of his popularity as a potential leader, and drove him out of the country. It’s ridiculous, frankly. Kakashi doesn't have the ambition for it.” Sasuke stretches out on his bed. “But I actually need your help with something that Kakashi won’t approve of.”

“Yeah, like what?”

“I need to sneak into Orochimaru’s base so I can put an end to him for good.”

Naruto blinks, waits for him to continue, to say something that might make this statement rational. When Sasuke remains silent, looking at him expectantly, Naruto says, “Okay. What the hell?”

“What’s the problem,” Sasuke asks, now irritated.

“The problem?!” Naruto sputters. “Well, I don’t know. You’re planning to head into a murderous heavily guarded war criminal’s base, by yourself, and think you’re just gonna walk in and kill him.”

“Why not?”

For a moment, Naruto isn’t sure how to respond, because he is quickly realizing that for all his posturing as the rational one in comparison to him, Sasuke may actually be crazy.

“Because, Sasuke,” He says, trying to be patient. “You could die. He could, you know, murder your stupid ass.”

“Tch. Whatever,” Sasuke says, as if the concept of death is beneath him. “I’m stronger than him now. I’ve had a plan in my head for a while, now. Orochimaru has been quite sick for years, and I know the schedule of his medication, when his symptoms are exacerbated and when they recede. I doubt it would be too difficult.”

“...Go to bed, Sasuke,” Naruto says flatly, and turns away from him, hoping this entire conversation had been a sleep deprivation induced delusion.

—

It was apparent to him, now, that Sasuke truly meant everything he said, no matter how ridiculous it may seem.

“He’s gone,” Naruto says frantically, running into Kakashi’s room, who is reclining on his bed and reading a book.

“Who, Sasuke?” Kakashi turns the page leisurely, and Naruto feels a vein in his forehead is about to burst.

“Yes, Sasuke! And not to get food or, or - to the bathroom! He was saying all this crap about killing Orochimaru last night and - “

“Wait.” Kakashi sits upright, suddenly serious. “He said that?”

“Yeah he did!” Naruto snaps. Kakashi shakes his head and sighs.

“I should never underestimate that boy’s capacity for recklessness.” He says. “Well, looks like we’re about to have another fight on our hands.”

“I just don’t get - how could he be so stupid?” Naruto paces around the room in panic, and Kakashi seems mildly surprised.

“I didn’t expect you to be this worried, honestly,” He comments. Naruto’s head snaps up in anger.

“I’m not _worried_ I’m just pissed off!” Naruto tries to convince himself that this is the truth, but it’s futile. He is enraged, like the mere thought of Orochimaru taking Sasuke away could trigger the Avatar State on its own. Which is an irrational response to have to someone he’s known for a mere month, he knows that, but he can’t help himself.

“We have to find him, Kakashi,” He says, trying to keep his voice steady.

“We will,” Kakashi assures him. “Remember that Sasuke is more than capable of taking care of himself. He’s always been like that. His plans seem impulsive, but they have a way of working out in the end.”

“How can you be so sure?” Naruto asks, unable to contain his worry.

Kakashi shrugs. “Because he’s a lot like me.”

They decide to make a move in the middle of the night. “There’s a ship boarding captives for experimentation,” Kakashi explains, “Sasuke must have snuck in by disguising himself as one of them. We, on the other hand, are going to sneak in disguised as guards.”

“If you pretend to be a Fire Nation soldier who captured the Avatar, they will definitely take me straight to Orochimaru,” Naruto says.

Kakashi pauses for a moment. “That’s true,” he says slowly. “It’s also completely suicidal. You don’t need to make yourself bait to find Sasuke.”

Naruto looks down stonily at that. The thought of not doing everything he possibly can to find Sasuke is unbearable to him, no matter how irritated he is with him right now.

“You’re going to use your airbending to simulate earthbending, by moving around rocks within eye range of Fire Nation soldiers,” Kakashi instructs. “I’m going to use my old Fire Nation armor as a disguise. I will arrest you, and take you onboard the prison ship. No one needs to know you’re a surviving airbender, let alone the Avatar.”

The plan goes smoothly, but Naruto’s heart is hammering throughout, in anticipation of reaching Sasuke. He blends in easily with the prisoners, letting Kakashi guide him onboard the ship. “Wait for my cue before you do anything,” Kakashi murmurs close to his ear. Naruto nods along, but is already planning his next move.

 _I’ll have to kill the guard outside my cell, which shouldn’t be too hard,_ Naruto thinks, recalling how he’d managed to suck the air out of one of Itachi’s guard’s lungs. _After that, I just have to look everywhere I can for Sasuke. I can’t wait._

He sits in his cell, waiting for his chance, when an abrupt tremor reverberates through the entire ship.

“We have an intruder!” He hears a guard yell, and his stomach churns with anxiety until he realizes their attention isn’t directed at him.

“Someone freed several prisoners from their cells,” the guard is barking out to his subordinates. “We have no idea who, or how he even had access, but it has to be someone from the outside. The prisoners are too drugged up to try anything.”

Naruto’s heart skips with excitement. _Sasuke. It has to be him. It has to._

He decides he can’t wait any longer. Despite his movement being limited due to the shackles on his wrist, he is able to manipulate the air within a guard’s body, choking him. His subordinate looks towards him in shock.

“What in the hell are you doing?” He asks, panicked. Naruto grins.

“Get me out of here, or I’ll have to give you a personal demonstration.”

The subordinate guard steps forward, opening the cell and feigning as if he’s about to unshackle him, but suddenly settles into a firebending stance instead, blasting a lethal blow towards Naruto, who easily floats up and flips behind him.

“Surprised?” He asks, as the guard stumbles back fearfully. “You’ve gotta be faster than that if you’re gonna kill an airbender.” He gestures towards his keys with his chin. “Now, are you gonna get me those, or will I have to take them by force?”

The guard swallows heavily, before unshackling him with shaking hands. Naruto smiles brightly. “Thanks for the cooperation!” He says, before hitting them with a blast of air strong enough to knock them all unconscious against the metal walls of the ship.

_Now, to find Sasuke._

He speeds through the cells, towards the top of the ship where the prisoners and guards are entangled in conflict. He scans the area for any sign of Sasuke, before someone’s arm wrenches him back roughly.

“You had one instruction, Naruto,” Kakashi says, exasperated. “Which was to wait for my cue. Instead, you’ve alerted the premises that you’re an airbender, and it won’t take long before they put two and two together and figure out you’re the Avatar.”

“I was just trying to save Sasuke!” Naruto pulls away from Kakashi.

“Then use your head for once. Sasuke isn’t a damsel in distress. He got himself into this situation, I assure you he can manage his way out of it without your need for heroics.”

Naruto’s face burns at that comment, and all the implications it carried, before Kakashi sighed.

“Anyway. I know where Orochimaru’s room is. It seems that Sasuke set a number of the prisoners loose, creating a distraction, and it could be our opening.”

They head towards the upper deck, and Naruto’s heart pounds in his ears. He is seized with fear when the metallic scent of blood hits him.

_Please don’t let that be Sasuke’s._

Sure enough, blood is seeping through the cracks in the door of Orochimaru’s room. Naruto exchanges an uneasy glance with Kakashi, before extending his hand towards the door knob, fearfully -

“What the hell are you two doing here?”

Naruto whips around to see Sasuke standing there, strangely unharmed, and is torn between throwing his arms around him and punching him in the face.

“You bastard,” Naruto bites out,”Why would you just sneak off like that? Are you actually insane? Are you actually alright in the fucking head?”

“Good to see you, Sasuke,” Kakashi says tiredly. “Please tell me that’s Orochimaru’s blood leaking from his room and he hasn’t started taking his experiments in there.”

“It’s his blood, obviously.” Sasuke looks offended, as if him murdering Orochimaru had been a guarantee. “Like I’d do all this and not get any results.”

“No, of course not. Why would perfect Sasuke not get results, even after ditching his friends without a second thought!”

“That’s enough Naruto,” Kakashi says. “Let’s get out of here before you let the entire Fire Nation know your exact identity and location, alright?”

“Whatever,” Naruto says.

Sasuke looks at him strangely, like there is something he’s trying to figure out, but Naruto turns away from him, determined to not let him see what’s on his mind.

-

**v. the great divide**

"Remind me again how 'sight seeing' was a good idea?" Naruto whispers scathingly in Kakashi's ear. To his credit, the man has the decency to look embarrassed.

"Well, think of it this way." He says. "This is a chance for you to exercise your skills as an Avatar - diplomacy is necessary for balance, you know."

Sasuke looks like he wants to bash his head in.

They had come to the Great Divide because Kakashi insisted they relax a bit before heading to their next destination, and what better way than to cross through a scenic route in a world famous canyon?

In reality, there must have been plenty of better ways, because they didn't involve solving a hundred year dispute between the two most obnoxious clans in history.

"The Aburame clan will not lower itself to the point of traveling alongside a lowly clan such as the Inuzuka," a man with dark glasses sniffs contemptuously.

"Well, the Inuzuka clan will not lower itself to traveling with a bunch of freaks who've only got insects for friends!" A man with red markings on his cheeks cries out.

"Can't they just bond over how they both smell disgusting?" Sasuke says tiredly, under his breath.

"Wait, I think I got this!" Naruto says. He clears his throat.

"Listen," he approaches them genially. "Isn't it true that dogs, uh, carry fleas in their backs? And the Inuzuka's thing is dogs, and Aburame's is bugs, so technically...you guys are like, natural allies!"

He's met with stony silence.

"How dare you imply our dogs exist to carry their fleas!" The Inuzuka leader snaps at them.

"And how dare you assume our fleas would even associate with their ill bred dogs?" The Aburame clan leader hisses.

Naruto feels his eyebrow twitch. They have been at this for three days.

He's considering abandoning them and convincing Sasuke and Kakashi to make a run for it (well, he doubts Sasuke will need much convincing in this regard) when Kakashi decides he has a plan.

"It's a guaranteed success," he assures them.

Naruto is skeptical until he wakes up the next morning to see the Inuzuka and Aburame clans huddled around their breakfasts, heads close together, discussing something.

"Uh...so what's going on?"

"We are the victims of a Fire Nation raid." Aburame says grimly. "We have no choice but to set aside our differences and work together."

"For now, anyway." Inuzuka adds.

Naruto smiles encouragingly and congratulates them on their truce, before heading over to Kakashi and demanding to know what just happened.

"It's simple," Kakashi explains. "They don't know I'm a firebender. I scorched a few supplies, nothing major or life threatening, to make it look like they were raided."

"...And why the hell would you do that?!"

"An excellent way to resolve internal disputes is to direct each party's attention to a third player," Kakashi says. "The Fire Nation uses it among their own people as well. Fear is the greatest unifier."

"Huh. Alright then." Naruto says. He figures there's a lesson about diplomacy in there somewhere. For now, he just wants to get off the damn canyon. 

-

**vi. the storm**

Unlike the battered, coastline villages of the Southern Earth Kingdom, the central cities have yet to be conquered by the Fire Nation. Thrilled by the possibility that they can spend a few days not being stalked by Fire Nation soldiers, Naruto demands that they go for a swim.

“So what exactly is the game plan here,” He asks, wading towards Sasuke, who is at the other end of the stream. “Like, does all this lead into killing Danzo”

“Eventually,” Sasuke replies. He floats on his back, and Naruto’s eyes are drawn to the droplets clinging to his sharp collarbone, his defined shoulders. The sunlight ripples against the water all around him, and the picture it creates is almost ethereal. “You’re the Avatar. Every army resisting the Fire Nation will rally around you, it’ll give them common ground. And mastering all four elements will help legitimize you, in their eyes.”

“So why are we doing water first? You’re a firebender, and there’s earthbenders all around us!”

“I don’t get it either, but according to Kakashi, the elements have to be mastered in order,” Sasuke explains. “If you don't learn them in proper succession, it’ll actually take longer and become more tedious.”

“Yeah, it’s kinda hard to imagine this being any more tedious,” Naruto says, recalling all the long hours spent traveling north on an empty stomach.

Sasuke swims out of the water and towels himself off, while Naruto tries not to be extremely obvious in his staring. Luckily, Kakashi arrives at that exact moment.

"I have good news, boys," he says, cheerfully. "I found jobs for the three of us."

"That's good news?" Naruto remarks.

"We need money, so yes, it is." Kakashi says. "There are a number of street food stands in the village you can pay a visit to, once you've been paid."

"See, now you should've led with that." Naruto says, grinning widely as he climbs out of the stream.

-

Naturally, the job offer is not as expected.

"I'm not hiring him," the old man says, sneering at Naruto. "Not after what he's done."

"He was trapped in an iceberg for an entire decade," Sasuke says flatly. "What could be possibly have done?"

The old man laughs. "And how did he get there, huh? Running away, that's how. While you were busy avoiding your duty, people were dying. My friends. My wife. My fucking daughter. There is not a single person I know who hasn't lost someone they love."

"Come on now, Naruto may be the Avatar, but there is no chance he could singlehandedly prevent all that." Kakashi reasons, but the man turns away in disgust. Naruto's heart hammers.

It didn't matter what Kakashi said - he is responsible. For the tragedy in this man's life, and the tragedy in his own. He's a screw up, like the elders had always said. He didn't deserve affection or sympathy.

"I'm gonna go for a walk," he tells them, voice strained and rough. He ignores Kakashi's protests, and tries not to be painfully aware of Sasuke's cold silence.

-

He sits in their motel room, face pressed against the window. The soft hiss of rain droplets grows heavier with time, until the wind is whistling and the sky is a dark, foreboding grey.

The door creeks open, and Sasuke stands in front of him, holding a tray of food.

"Poached chicken, chili sauce, and rice." Sasuke announces, settling the tray down next to him. "Come on, loser. You wanted street food, didn't you?"

"I don't need your pity," Naruto almost snarls. Sasuke blinks, before sitting down in the bed across from him.

"Tell me why you ran," he says.

"Why, so you can judge?"

"As if I've been such a paragon of morality throughout my life. Just tell me, Naruto. I want to know."

Naruto stares at the rain, avoiding Sasuke's gaze. "Because they treated me like something they owned. Like I had no purpose outside of fighting and dying for them. And if I couldn't be the superhuman killing machine they wanted, they'd hate me."

"Then that's on them," Sasuke says easily. "Not you."

"No it isn't!" Naruto cries out. "If I had just stayed - if I hadn't snapped because they were separating me from Iruka-sensei, maybe he would still be alive right now! Maybe they'd all be alive, maybe I would've ended the war by now - "

"And maybe you'd be dead." Sasuke cuts him off. "Maybe you would be an over-exerted seventeen year old boy who would crumble under his responsibilities. Maybe the seasoned warriors would've grown soft through their insistence in relying on you. Maybe more people would have died."

"...And how can you be sure I won't fuck things up even worse, this time around?" Naruto whispers.

"I can't. But I know you, and how damned stubborn you can be. I know you'll fight this out to the end."

"Heh. Because I'm just that stupid, right?"

"Because you hate to lose," Sasuke says, simply. "Eat your food. I'm going to bed now."

An hour later, his hunger sated and Sasuke asleep across from him, Naruto wonders how it's possible that he's looking forward to the next day.

-

**vii. the blue spirit**

As luck would have it, Naruto is captured within the following week.

It begins with an innocuous task. Sasuke and Kakashi have fallen ill after being caught in the previous week's storm, and are in need of medicine. Naruto is to retrieve it, from a herbalist residing in the mountains. Except, he may or may have been momentarily distracted by the Air Nomad trinkets decorating the mountain pass. He may or may not have touched a few, with his throat tight and eyes stinging, just to ensure they weren't a mirage or a dream.

As it turns out, they were something much worse than a mirage. They were traps sent into lure in surviving Air Nomads.

He tears through the mountains, barraged by senbon needles. He is used to outrunning anything and anyone around him, except this man tails him with unnatural speed.

The man wears no mask, but he doesn't need to. His face is still and ghostly pale, betraying nothing as he ensnares Naruto in a strange trap - a net with designs akin to a sumi-e painting.

“You’re not human,” Naruto says weakly, effectively caught. The man does not taunt or gloat. He merely looks, and presses an injection into the sensitive carotid artery in Naruto’s neck.

The next thing he knows, he’s awake in a Fire Nation tower, bound in chains.

“Damn, and here I was worried you killed him, Sai.” There is an oddly jovial woman in front of him, hair messy and neckline dangerously low. She smiles sweetly.

“I’m Anko. Try not to die on us, kid. It would be a pain in the ass if you reincarnated again.”

Naruto blinks groggily, registering his surroundings. The man who captured him - Sai - is standing in front of him, blank faced as ever. Naruto figures if he can't do anything else, he can at least provoke him.

“Hey,” he calls out. “You. Maggot looking freak.”

Something flickers across Sai’s expression, something almost real. Anko barks out a laugh.

“Aw, well look who still has fight left in him. I bet Ibiki will beat it out.” She waves goodbye. “See ya, kid. You’re gonna be in here a long, long time.”

Naruto watches her leave, hips sashaying. Sai lingers, inexplicably.

“Ibiki Morino specializes in interrogation and torture,” he explains coolly. “I recommend you get a hold of yourself so this process can be undergone smoothly.”

“By process, do you mean kidnapping me?” Naruto snarls.

“Don’t play dumb, Naruto Uzumaki. You hold enormous power, power that the rebelling nations would be willing to use on us if it turned the tides of the war. Or, the Akatsuki will capture you, and they plan to use your Avatar State to attack Fire Nation civilians."

 _Itachi really must have been manipulating me then,_ Naruto thinks. _No other reason for him to try to talk me into disappearing instead of just capturing me._

"As Fire Lord Danzo’s protection detail, Root and Anbu are committed to stopping you. That is all.” Sai recites this monotonously. There’s something seriously off about the guy, but Naruto can’t place his finger on it.

“And so you’ll fuck people over because of your stupid orders?”

“No. We eliminate threats to the Fire Nation because our nation is our family.”

He walks out, then. Naruto recalls Kakashi discussing the Fire Nation’s doctrine, the Will of Fire, which demanded loyalty to a family forged by national ties. Serving in the military, while not legally a requirement, was heavily encouraged and normalized. Children as young as seven were enrolled in military training, raised to believe their philosophy was the default judgement by which the world should be measured. They were not allowed to be citizens of other nations without being declared defectors.

Their leaders had never been chosen by the people, but the people had no protest - they merely assumed they had a right to be in power.

Naruto struggles against his chains, wondering if it would be possible to slice them open with a sharp gust of wind. He tries, and fails. Despondent, he looks at the small, square window perched high on the ceiling, offering a glimpse of an open night sky.

And to his immense shock, it begins to open.

 _Sasuke? Kakashi?_ They were sick, but he’s certain they’d fight past sickness to rescue him. His excitement rises and falls, as a slender figure slips through with a pretty opera mask, carved with intricate blue designs.

“Hey!” He calls out. “Who are you?”

The figure doesn’t respond, but their arms rise gracefully, pulling a thin stream out of the water skin at their hip.

A waterbender. They have to be on Naruto’s side.

They slice through the chains nearly, and beckon him to follow. Naruto does exactly that, gladly.

“Can I at least know where you’re taking me? I can take you to my hideout - “

“Are you always this loud?” The voice is clear and melodic. “You will alert everyone in the premises to your escape.”

“Ah, whatever. We’ll talk once we kick their asses, then.” Naruto grins and watches as his rescuer gracefully steps out.

-

They leap across rooftops. The cool night air is like a balm to Naruto’s nerves. He restrains himself from laughing in delight as he can finally airbend again.

"Two burly looking firebenders up front. Race ya to see who can get rid of them first!" Adrenaline pulses through Naruto. He can practically feel his rescuer's disapproval, but there is no time for an argument.

Naruto launches himself off the roof, using a harsh gust of wind to propel himself towards one of the firebending guards. He secures his hold around the air in his windpipe, and watches him choke, sputter, and struggle until he goes silent. His companion comes swiftly behind him, using a simple water whip to thrash the second guard, followed by a slash across the neck.

So they were a brutal fighter after all. Good. Naruto didn't think he had patience for anything else, at this point.

They are ambushed by a deluge of guards, all carrying long spears. Naruto evades their strikes easily, while his companion slashes through them with their water whip. In one particular close call, they seems to get a hold of the water in a guard's blood - it comes leaking through his eyes and nostrils, and he howls in pain as they make their escape.

"Hold onto me!" Naruto tells them, and they do as he says. He creates a vortex of sorts, manipulates the air currents around them to cross over the tall, imposing wall cutting off their escape. They manage, just barely, but a hoarde of guards wait outside to meet them.

"Damnit," Naruto mutters under his breath. They are so, so screwed. He scans the area for an opening, when suddenly, his heart physically lurches -

"Let us pass." His rescuer tells the guards, calm as ever. "Or I will crush his heart inside his chest." 

It’s not a bluff. Naruto can feel their grip on the water in his blood. He can feel how easy it would be to rupture the delicate system that holds him together.

“You wouldn't,” a guard hisses.

“I would.” His rescuer replies.

Slowly, the guards part to create an opening. They can’t risk Naruto reincarnating, starting their search for the Avatar all over again. They pass through, carefully, when a senbon needle plunges through the crowd. Quick as a breath, it pierces through the masked stranger’s heart.

They collapse.

The guards lunge towards him. Naruto fights them off desperately, one by one. It would be wholly impractical to rescue this stranger who retrieved him only to kill him, it would be completely absurd…

But he never can help himself.

He hoists the unconscious body over his shoulder, and darts away swiftly, away from the fortress.

-

Without the mask, it is clear his rescuer is painfully young.

They introduce themselves - a boy named Haku. His lips are glossed, his eyes lined with kohl, and his hair long. Naruto has never met a boy who looks like him, but it’s hardly the strangest thing about him.

“Why didn't you kill me?” He asks. His eyes are clear. There is no judgement.

“...You saved me,” Naruto mutters.

“For my own purpose .”

“And what purpose would that be?” Naruto snarls. Haku looks at him, contemplative. Naruto has arranged a makeshift hideout for them, underneath a canopy of trees. If their pursuers find them again, it won't be enough to hold them off.

“My master owes a debt to a very powerful man. By delivering you to the Fire Lord, he could pay it off.”

Naruto smiles bitterly. “So that's it then, huh? I was your ticket to pleasing your master.” He imbues the word with as much sarcasm as possible. Haku appears affected, for the first time.

“You mock me, but you are a slave to the entire world. Why do you fight for these people, who see you as nothing but a weapon?” He arches a well plucked eyebrow. “You fight and live and die for them, out of an obligation thrust upon you at birth. At least I chose to serve Zabuza.”

“You’re so wrong,” Naruto says. “Maybe it was obligation at first, but...whether or not I had this power, I would wanna do the right thing. But it’s not just for the greater good either.” He thinks of the graceful arch of Sasuke’s sword as he practices in the early morning light, Kakashi reading peacefully in the shade of an oak tree. “I’ve got people I would do anything for. Not because I _serve_ them, but because we take care of each other.”

Haku stares at him, revealing nothing.

“...I’m gonna go,” Naruto tells him. He really should get back to Sasuke and Kakashi with the medicine.

“You’re not going to kill me.” It’s a statement rather than a question.

“Nope.”

“Why not?”

Naruto just smiles. “I dunno. Guess I’m stupid like that.”

He leaves before they can exchange another word.

-

**viii. the fortuneteller**

The farther north they travel, the colder the wind. 

The village they are passing through is in the midst of winter festivities. Unlike the central Earth Kingdom, which has converted to the Fire Nation’s dominant religion in a show of diplomacy - worship of the Goddess Kaguya, practiced by all but the Uchiha and their allies - the northern villages remain committed to their traditional deities. Moon and ocean spirits, as a consequence of their close relations with the Northern Water Tribes.

Their holy festival is beautiful. Lights decorate the canal bridges, music plays sweetly through the frigid air, and red cheeked children play in the snow.

But the sight that really gets Naruto, above anything, is Sasuke standing over a bridge, peering up at the white sky, and genuinely smiling. 

“He’s always liked snow,” Kakashi whispers to Naruto, noticing his expression. “He has good memories associated with it.”

But it isn't shock that Naruto is feeling. It's something else entirely. He’s never given a name to his frustrated admiration for Sasuke, but he’s coming to realize it isn't a sensible respect. It’s a burning pulse, coursing through his veins. 

They traverse through the village, taking part in the festivities. Kakashi points out a fortune telling shop.

“Oh come on,” Sasuke huffs. “You can't really believe in that stuff.”

“Not necessarily,” Kakashi says. “But it could be entertaining. And, it’s free.”

They enter the shop, simply titled “Yamanaka’s”. The psychic is a young, pretty blonde with surprisingly sharp, analytical eyes. She smirks at them.

“Well, this one should be fun.” She says. “Who’s up first?”

“...I’ll go,” Kakashi says, noticing the lack of enthusiasm from both Sasuke and Naruto.

“Yours is easy. You are a man confined by guilt over the things you could not control. You left our world a long time ago, and what remains is a mere shadow.”

“This seems like less of a prediction, and more of an analysis of my nature,” Kakashi comments.

“Your nature is your destiny,” the woman says, shrugging.

“Seems like a load of bullshit to avoid doing actual work,” Naruto says snidely. The woman turns to him, amused.

“Why don’t you go next? Though yours should probably be private.” And Naruto doesn't know if he's imagining it, but her eyes seem to flicker briefly towards Sasuke.

“Whatever,” he replies, crossing his arms behind his head. 

They retreat to a small room, where she sits across from him on a velvet cushion.

“Shouldn’t you be using cards or reading my palm or something?” Naruto grumbles. The woman ignores him.

“You make me sad,” she says simply.

“Wow, great start.”

“You have a grand destiny,” she begins, “that has damaged your life irreparably.”

Naruto shifts uncomfortably. She didn't know he was the Avatar. He wasn't even wearing air nomad clothes.

“Your abrasive demeanor belies your desperation for approval,” she continues. “You crumble under the expectations you can't meet. You’re brave and earnest, but deeply lonely.”

She goes on like this, and Naruto is disquieted by the accuracy of her observations. He can't help but blurt out - “do you see anything about romance?”

The woman blinks. “I’m sorry, what?”

He blushes deeply. “You know...romance. Dating and stuff.” He mumbles the last part.

The woman looks at him with remorse. “I see you want someone who challenges you and protects you simultaneously...but there is no room for love in your life. I’m sorry.”

He doesn’t know why her words feel like a weight in his chest.

“Like I said,” she says quietly. “You make me sad.”

“...This is bullshit,” he tells her. He grins roughly. “It’s a good thing you don't charge, ya know.”

“I’m just telling you what I perceived,” she replies.

“And I’m telling you it’s bullshit. Oh and, by the way, people’s nature isn't their destiny. That’s just an excuse they make because they're afraid to change.”

He stomps out, leaving her stunned behind him.

-

 _It’s just fortune telling,_ he keeps telling himself. _Doesn’t mean anything._

But bullshit psychic powers aside, there was a kernel of truth there. He has too many responsibilities, they’re both guys, and he didn't feel...good enough for Sasuke anyway. Sasuke is an unattainable goal to him, and the chasm between them is impossible to cross.

He’s digging around for Kakashi’s moonshine vodka, when he hears footsteps behind him.

“I see you took your fortune seriously,” Sasuke says. Naruto is alarmed.

“Hey, you didn't eavesdrop, did you?” He snaps.

“No, loser. You just came out looking like you’d attended a funeral, so I assumed.”

“Right.” Naruto flushes red. “I don't know. It’s fine! I mean it was weird, but…” He takes a deep breath, and hesitates before asking.

“Do you think that, maybe, there is something to this fate stuff? Like maybe some things are just meant to happen?”

Naruto regrets the words as soon as he leaves his mouth. He hates second guessing himself, especially in front of Sasuke. Surprisingly, Sasuke doesn't mock him for it.

“No.” He says simply. 

“But can you know for sure?”

Sasuke shrugs. “What were the chances of the two of us meeting? If anything, we were _meant_ to die a long time ago. But we’re here, because we did things we weren't supposed to.” He quirks an eyebrow. “Are you gonna share any of that vodka?”

It's like magic, how Naruto’s tension dissipates in the face of Sasuke’s bluntness. “Heh. You can have a little, I guess,” he says, passing over a bottle.

It was entirely possible Naruto’s destiny had been to fight alongside the air nomads during Danzo's first assault, and die protecting them. It was so unlikely, so hopelessly impossible that he would survive that raging storm, those arctic waters, remaining preserved for a decade just to wake up to Sasuke’s dark eyes gazing down at him. And yet, it had happened.

Maybe he doesn't need fate to bind him to Sasuke, when they’ve found each other in spite of it. 

-

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i wrote this at an airport and on flights i was on last year and decided to polish it up so i could publish it today. i was actually going to publish all of season 1 as one chapter, but i decided i wanted to flesh out the second half a bit more.
> 
> for those of you who haven't seen atla but are reading this fic anyway, each section is an episode from the season the chapter correlates to, modified to suit naruto's characters/world building. not every episode of the season is there of course, this fic would take forever if i was going for a detailed reboot


	2. water, part 2

**i. the deserter**

The cold has become their constant companion. It’s a shock after spending so long in the milder weather of the central Earth Kingdom, or even the northern territories with their soft winters. The glacial wind is barely offset by the hot pots of tea Kakashi brews day in and day out - “physical benefits, for those of us who don’t have the breath of fire and get cold easily,” he hands a cup to Naruto, “and psychological benefits, for those of us prone to brooding.” The second cup goes to a scowling Sasuke.

Naruto thinks he can hardly be blamed when after weeks of bare branches coated in sharp icicles and snow, he can't contain his excitement when he finally spots a handful decorated with red and yellow lights, strewn with ribbons.

 _Make way to the Winter Solstice Festival!_ A sign says in rounded, bubbly text.

“We’ve gotta go! Come on, I’m so bored,” Naruto practically begs Kakashi, who only sighs.

“The Winter Solstice Festival is a Fire Nation holiday, Naruto. A week long celebration prior to the actual solstice. The place is going to be crawling with firebenders. You see how that might be a problem for you, right?”

“We’ll wear disguises! Why am I traveling with such a pair of grandmas, anyway?” Naruto crosses his arms stubbornly. Sasuke looks skeptical.

“Didn’t you just get kidnapped two weeks ago?” He asks. Naruto flushes.

“Yeah, whatever! You don't get to lecture anyone on recklessness after that stunt you pulled at Orochimaru’s prison, Sasuke!”

Sasuke just shrugs. “It worked, didn't it?”

“Well, maybe this’ll work too! Unless…” Naruto grins slyly. “You’re too scared.” Dumb taunts like that always worked on Sasuke. They worked on Naruto too, if he was being honest.

Sasuke narrows his eyes as Kakashi suppresses a smile, watching the scene unfold. “Scared? You wish.”

“You _are_ scared. Pussy. Loser!”

“Alright, fine!” Sasuke stomps forward. “Whatever.”

“I can’t believe that always works on him,” Naruto says, laughing as Sasuke walks ahead of them.

Kakashi looks thoughtful. “Actually, it only works with you. I have never seen anyone else get under his skin.”

Naruto feels incredibly smug at that. That feeling fades, of course, when their poorly thought out venture inevitably implodes in their faces.

One minute Naruto is sampling every delicious, fried, meat based treat he can find - he had never been able to stick to vegetarianism, despite it being common among Air Nomads - the next he is standing sheepishly as a guard points at him and shouts _that’s him, I recognize him, he killed ten of our best men at the Fuchu Stronghold!_

And he’s off, swift as a heartbeat, grabbing Kakashi and Sasuke by both his hands. They yell in protest that they can’t nearly keep up with this speed, but if they don’t bolt immediately, there is a high likelihood they’re all dead.

“We can’t just outrun them,” Sasuke says. “Maybe you can, but not me and Kakashi.”

With that, he kicks over a barrel, water pouring out and forming a puddle in front of the guards. As soon as they step into it, Sasuke sends an electric shock into the water, finishing them all off at once.

“Nice one,” Naruto compliments. Sasuke smirks.

“Now it’s your turn to show off, loser.”

Naruto produces massive gusts of wind to hold them off as Kakashi and Sasuke get away. He waits until they’ve successfully escaped to make his own way out, before realizing he’s surrounded.

Damnit. And here he was hoping to go at least one week without killing a Fire Nation soldier…

Suddenly, a massive, crackling fire spreads through the festival, scattering the soldiers. They look around wildly for the incoming threat. Someone grabs Naruto’s wrist in a shockingly strong grip.

“Hey!” He tries to twist his way out, but this lady is strong as fuck and has no plans of letting go.

“You’re coming with me, kid. My people escorted your friends out already,” she says. Her voice is harsh - not in quality but in tone, like he’s wasting her time.

“Why should I believe you - ah!” He doesn’t have time to protest as he’s dragged away.

-

The woman’s name is Tsunade Senju, and she is a deserter.

She takes them to a small cabin. It’s a cold, uncomfortable space, barren except for a war axe hanging from the wall. It’s a heavy and powerful looking weapon, though Naruto can’t imagine what reason Tsunade would have to use it, her firebending being exceptional as it is. Strangely, its hilt is embroidered with delicate cherry blossoms.

Tsunade offers them tough meat, thin soup, and copious amounts of sake. “I dug into my best stash for you all, so you better be grateful,” she growls. She’s not the friendliest. Absurdly, she’s quite the skilled healer. She patches up Naruto’s wounds in no time.

“Thank you for taking us in, Lady Tsunade. I have to say, I wasn’t expecting to see you again.” Kakashi says politely. She just shrugs.

“I try to stay out of this war business, but I was in the area and figured I shouldn’t let the Avatar die.” She pours herself more sake. Her hand trembles a bit, spilling outside of the cup. She’s clearly already a bit drunk.

It doesn't take long for Naruto to blurt out the question he’s been dying to ask since he learned her name.

“Weren’t you gonna be the next Fire Lord?” He says, hurriedly. For some reason, Kakashi averts his gaze and Sasuke sighs. Tsunade has a pinched look to her face.

“What, because I’m a Senju and part of the royal line?” She snorts. “Hiruzen wasn't Senju, you know. My great-uncle Tobirama passed the throne to him directly. I don't have to rule.”

“But Danzo became hokage because you didn't step up!” Naruto cries out. “You had a claim, you had power - “

“Danzo became hokage because the council deemed him fit. The Fire Lord isn't the entire government. There’s advisors, war generals, strategists, the chief of finance, the royal attorneys, the masters of trade, you get the point. They liked me, but they loved him. And I’m old enough to know when to pick my battles.” She skewers her meat roughly, tearing at it. Naruto is disgusted in more ways than one.

“People died because you were too weak to take the power being handed to you,” he says harshly. “I don’t know what you would’ve been like, but it sure can’t be as bad as him since you’re not killing Air Nomads - “

“I didn’t know he was going to be in power!”

“Doesn’t matter! You could’ve overseen who was chosen, at least. You didn’t act when you should've, and now all the people I grew up with, that I saw as family, are dead.” Naruto’s always cried too easily, and this situation is no exception. He feels a hot lump rise in his throat. “That’s just sad. It’s sad that you don’t give a shit when people all over the world are risking their lives to do what's right.”

“That’s enough, Naruto,” Kakashi interrupts. “Why don’t we have some tea or some more sake? My apologies, Lady Tsunade.”

“Don’t apologize on my behalf,” Naruto snarls. Tsunade is very pale, her lips a thin, furious line. Sasuke watches him, contemplative.

When they leave her cabin, Naruto expects a lecture. Instead, he gets a story.

“Do you know why Tsunade deserted?” Kakashi asks over tea that night.

Naruto shakes his head numbly. “No, and I don’t care.”

“What if I told you that her husband and brother were killed in the war?”

He can’t help the empathy that surges inside him. He's always been like this. Naruto can’t stay angry with her, but he doesn’t want to feel sorry for her either. So he keeps his mouth shut, afraid of what might come out.

Kakashi continues anyway. “The war isn't a cause she believed in to begin with. So not only did they die, but in her eyes, they died for nothing. She abandoned her entire way of life after that. She had an apprentice, Sakura Haruno, a noblewoman and nonbender who she was teaching to fight. Tsunade left her - she misses her desperately, but she couldn’t handle the thought of sending her off to her death for such a cruel purpose.”

“That...makes sense,” Naruto says. “But still. If she’d taken the throne, maybe she could've changed things!”

“Maybe,” Kakashi agrees. “Or maybe the council would have voted her out. Maybe the public would have an uprising. Maybe she'd be assassinated in her bed. The war is popular in the Fire Nation, Naruto. It’s brought them wealth and resources, and they truly believe they are doing what's right.”

“That’s not an excuse to give up,” Naruto argues.

“It’s not,” Kakashi says. “I’m not justifying her. I just want you to understand that winning this war is about more than just having the right leader.”

That was true. Naruto knew that much. But, he thinks, it would definitely be a start.

-

He visits Tsunade in her cabin later that night.

“What do you want?” She asks without turning around.

Naruto frowns. “How’d ya know it was me?

“You've got light airbender footsteps. Again, what do you want?”

Naruto pauses and takes a deep breath. “We’re gonna defeat the Fire Nation. I don’t care what anyone says, me, Sasuke, and Kakashi-sensei are gonna find a way to do it. But afterwards, we’re gonna need a leader who’s got a claim to the throne and can be accepted, but also agrees with us on not enslaving half the world. That leader is you.”

Tsunade actually laughs, bitter and hoarse. “What the hell makes you think I’d agree to that?”

“Because I don’t think you've given up either,” Naruto says.

“Well, you thought wrong,” Tsunade says frostily. “Are you almost done now?”

Naruto walks over to the war axe, eyes the stunning embroidery carved into steel, and traces the edge.

“Careful!” Tsunade says. “Don’t touch that!”

“Why?” Naruto asks. “Does it mean something to you?”

Tsunade is silent. Naruto grins.

“Your student is in the Fire Nation, huh?” He says, making Tsunade flinch. “Help make the world better. Not just for me. Not even for the greater good. But so she can live a good life where the government doesn't brainwash her into being an evil psychopath.”

Tsunade laughs. It's almost genuine this time. “You've got a way with words, you know that kid?”

Naruto smiles brightly. “Yeah, I’ve been told that.”

“Doesn't mean I’ve changed my mind though,” Tsunade says, her smile fading.

“You will,” Naruto says confidently. “You will because I could tell from the festival - you're not the type of person to sit around doing nothing as innocent people die.”

-

There is a sudden crash outside the cabin. Then there is a simmering, the scent of burning foliage, and Naruto knows they are under attack.

“Barrel bombs!” He shouts. “We have to take cover!”

Outside, Kakashi and Sasuke are warding the fire away from the cabin. Naruto looks out the window to see three figures. One is unfamiliar, but the other two are burned into his memory - Anko Mitarashi and that Root agent, Sai, the people who had kidnapped him a few weeks ago.

“Damnit, Ibiki Morino is with Anko,” Tsunade mutters.

“You know them?!”

“I worked with them. I taught Anko a lot.” She cracks her knuckles. “Guess it’s time for another lesson.”

She rushes outside to greet them.

“Anko, Ibiki,” Tsunade says amicably. “Never thought we’d meet like this.”

“Oh, just turn yourself in, Tsunade!” Ibiki says irritably. “You abandoned your comrades, and for what? To waste away in a cabin in the woods?”

“Better than wasting away fighting for pieces of shit like Hiruzen and Danzo,” Tsunade bites out.

“Okay, talking is getting boring." Anko says irritably. "Ibiki, let’s do this. Sai, you know your orders.”

Tsunade doesn’t give them time to strike first. She lashes out multiple fire whips, her movements sharp and aggressive. She performs a high kick that pushes a burst of fire towards Anko, and she barely dodges, the heat scalding her arm and Ibiki’s back. Naruto is entertained by the pure fear in their eyes.

In the meantime, he’ll have to take care of Sai.

The boy is slight and pale as ever, as he angles his senbon towards Naruto. He makes strange, jerking motions with his hands that Naruto avoids easily - as an Air Nomad, he’s practically a trained acrobat - somersaulting and flipping and vaulting out of the way. Suddenly, Sai’s fingers jab at his arm, press against something that Naruto didn’t realize was a part of him.

Just like that, his arm goes limp.

“What the hell are you?” He snarls at him. Sai smiles, falsely pleasant.

“I’m a chi blocker,” he says simply, and jabs at him again, though Naruto takes him seriously this time and avoids the attack.

A few feet away from him, Tsunade breathes out a wildfire. Ibiki’s ship burns, Anko retreats frantically, and even Sai looks mildly intimidated.

“Get out of here, you three!” Tsunade shouts. “I’ll hold them off.”

Sasuke and Kakashi seem ready to leave, but Naruto has one more thing to say.

“Hey, old hag!” He yells at her. “You better survive this if you're gonna be the next Fire Lord!”

Tsunade smirks. “We’ll see, brat. Maybe if you manage to kill the current one.”

Naruto, Sasuke, and Kakashi make a run for it, the air aflame behind them.

-

**ii. the waterbending master**

The sun is high and pale at the center of the sky. They are numb with cold, but the aching chill is encouraging to Naruto. It means they're that much closer to their first necessary milestone.

Sasuke doesn’t share his enthusiasm.

“Can’t Kurama fly faster,” he says, lying on his back and warming himself with firebending.

“Oh stop bitching, he’s been flying for days nonstop,” Naruto bites back.

“Boys, let’s relax a little.” Kakashi says. “I’m sure we can’t be too far off.”

As it turns out, he’s right. It’s only a few minutes later that shards of ice surround them, effectively trapping them from moving further as the Northern Water Tribe’s patrol examines them.

“State your business,” a man calls out to them. He has a distinct look to him - luminous eyes, like chips of ice. Naruto recalls the northern earth kingdom villages and their stories of the Hyuuga clan, the most powerful water clan in the North, and their cold eyes. _Kissed by the moon spirit,_ they’d told him.

Naruto grins. They really had made it, then.

“My name is Naruto Uzumaki,” he announces. “I’m the Avatar, and I wanna help your army take down the Fire Lord.”

-

In the center of the barren, northern arctic, there lies the water tribes’ central city, known as Kiri. Tall, imposing walls of ice act as a barrier to the outside world, melting into cascading waterfalls at the gentle insistence of a waterbender’s hand, to let them pass.

Each building seems to flow into the next. Spiraling staircases encrusted with crystals, waterways where roads would normally be. Boats and waterbending appear to be the most common form of travel here.

The ceremonial tower is especially intimidating. It’s less like a gathering place and more like a monument, Naruto thinks. It feels like it should be untouchable.

“That must be Hiashi Hyuuga,” Kakashi gestures to the table upfront. “He’s the leader of the Hyuuga clan, who currently have political dominance in the region.”

“I’ve heard he’s a shit leader,” Sasuke says, picking at his fish.

“Maybe don’t say that to his face.” Naruto grins, nudging him playfully.

Hiashi Hyuuga rises to introduce Naruto as the Avatar, and he’s met with applause. The elders seated next to Hiashi whisper in his ear as he sits down. There are two women at the table as well, one with long, thick hair and a black headpiece. She claps delicately, gives Naruto a demure smile. The other is younger, with a white headpiece, fidgeting with restlessness. She doesn't clap at all.

At their feet is another row of Hyuuga, not seated at the table. Among them is the man who greeted them at the border. He claps stiffly, not meeting anyone’s eyes.

“What’s going on there?” Naruto wonders out loud.

“The Hyuuga clan has a branch system,” Kakashi explains. “The men of the lower branch act as an elite guard to the primary branch, but they are not part of the military. They are effectively enslaved, to be honest. Women are banned from combat in the Water Tribes, so lower branch women act as handmaidens for Hinata, Hanabi, and others of noble birth.” He juts his chin towards the women seated at the table.

“We’re allying with these assholes?!” Naruto cries out. A few heads turn to stare at him.

“We don't have a choice,” Sasuke hisses in his ear. “They’re still at risk of genocide from the Fire Nation, and they’ll protect you. I can’t say I approve of how they run things either, obviously.”

Naruto sits back on his table, eyeing his steamed fish, sick to his stomach.

They meet with Hiashi Hyuuga after the ceremony, to discuss how Naruto will be trained. To their surprise, he offers to teach him personally.

“I’m afraid we’ll be seeing combat very soon,” Hiashi says. "There are a number of Fire Nation military squadrons positioned to attack, and we must subvert their attempts. Will you help me?”

“Hey, I’m all for going into the field, but won’t this mess with my training schedule?” Naruto asks.

“They say the best training is through experience.” Hiashi smiles grimly. “Besides, we are incredibly short on military personnel, and we know you are a strong enough fighter to have escaped a Fire Nation fortress.”

 _Maybe you wouldn’t have that problem if you didn’t ban over half your population from combat,_ is what Naruto thinks.

“I’ll be there,” is what Naruto says.

-

They meet at the first light of dawn, and the arctic sun does little to warm them.

Neji and Hinata Hyuuga are present. “Neji will act as a sparring partner for you, and Hinata will heal your wounds so you may continue fighting,” Hiashi tells him.

Naruto nods, trying not to make it obvious how fucking stupid he thinks it is, that Neji and Hinata have some proficiency in waterbending but are barred from actually using it.

Hiashi explains basic waterbending theory - the 42 essential forms as the basis of all waterbending, their structure and origin, and the function of qi.

“Move with the water, do not attempt to force it.” He demonstrates a simple water whip. “Like so.”

Naruto struggles with waterbending, despite having taught himself some of the basics. The movement is too gentle, too fluid, to suit his fighting style. Even his air bending was unconventional in its forcefulness, as traditional airbending utilized evasive maneuvers and strategy, while his was all brute force.

“It’s as though you've never gone through formal training,” Hiashi says scathingly.

Naruto grins sheepishly. He basically hadn't.

“Neji, spar with him.”

“Gladly,” the young Hyuuga says, walking forward and falling into stance.

Neji fights like Sasuke, but with less ferocity. The precision and elegance is the same. He leaves himself open, luring Naruto into the field, only to encase his feet in his and prevent further movement. He points a finely sharpened icicle at Naruto’s throat. It floats there, threateningly.

“If this were a real fight, you would be dead.” He says simply.

“Don’t expect to get lucky next time,” Naruto snarls. Neji scoffs.

“And to think, you will be in battle tomorrow,” he says. “While I will be cleaning the nobility's manor.”

He walks away, and Naruto watches, not knowing what to say.

-

They are deployed to Miyako, at the edge of the North Pole.

“It’s small, but it is a valuable trading port for crops and textiles.” Hiashi tells them. “And my intel reports that the Fire Nation will attack it first.”

“I believe at least half our troops should remain stationed in the Capitol,” Neji cuts in. “Miyako is not a significant enough city to demand this level of attention.”

“And yet, it is what the Fire Nation is targeting. No one asked for your opinion, Neji.” Hiashi says, and Neji purses his lips tightly.

Miyako is a small, sleepy city that they gradually militarize with their presence alone. It’s disconcerting watching the picturesque lines of homes and shops become lines of defense, infused with traps. The civilian population is ordered to stay home at all costs.

“Are we ever actually gonna get to fighting?” Naruto grumbles.

“Looking forward to the Fire Nation attacking?” Sasuke asks, sarcastic.

“No, but come on. This is boring and pointless, we’ve been - “

He’s cut off by a firebomb, launched at the edge of the city.

“Well,” Sasuke says. “Looks like you’re getting your wish.”

They head out farther, the waterbending battalion accompanying them trapping and freezing the bombs before they can hit the ground. Sasuke’s lightning is quick and precise, working as an excellent long range weapon to pierce through the soldiers’ hearts.

In the meantime, Naruto creates a heavy vortex to overturn the barrel bombs into the icy water, where they fizzle out and diffuse.

“How good do you think your waterbending is?” Sasuke asks him.

Naruto grins cockily. “I’m already a badass, which isn't a surprise.” He can see Sasuke trying not to roll his eyes.

“Great,” he says. “Any chance you can get us onto that ship?”

Naruto creates a path of ice towards the ship, and lifts them up onto the deck once they're close enough, using his airbending. Sasuke immediately blasts incoming soldiers with fire.

“This is the commanding officer’s ship,” Sasuke tells him as they make their way through to private chambers. “According to Hiashi’s intel, he’s quite the coward. Not surprised we haven’t caught sight of him yet.”

They make their way across the ship - it's shockingly simple, how they are able to easily dispatch guards as they go. Sure enough, the commander is hiding under his bed when they find him. Sasuke has to drag him out.

“Well,” he says, as the man trembles and struggles to break free of his hold. “Any last words?”

“Wait, Sasuke,” Naruto interrupts. “Let’s...let's let him surrender.”

Sasuke raises an eyebrow coolly. “You realize these people commit genocide, right?”

“I know!” Naruto cries out. “I’m one of the victims. Just...I want everyone to know that the Avatar shows mercy to enemies that surrender, that’s all.”

“...Suit yourself,” Sasuke says, clearly perplexed.

Naruto will realize how strange it truly was, later on. The lull in the commander’s sniveling performance, as he paused calmly to listen to them. The look akin to disappointment in his eyes, when they delivered him as a prisoner that night.

-

“Again,” Hiashi Hyuuga says, as Neji Hyuuga vaults sharp icicles towards Naruto, who dodges each one by one.

“For the last time, Avatar, you have to transmute the ice into water, not dodge it,” Neji grits out.

“Kinda difficult when you’re launching them towards me at that speed!” Naruto says, rubbing at his arm where an icicle had sliced him. "What the hell has gotten into you, anyway?"

Neji just scowls, and walks away.

"Neji is convinced your victory at Miyako was too easy," Hiashi tells him.

"It was," Sasuke agrees. He's bundled up in a corner, alternating between watching them spar and reading a book.

"Yeah, but that's because we were fucking awesome, not because something is going on," Naruto says. He really can't imagine the possible military benefit in intentionally sacrificing such a massive battalion, or how it could possibly be executed without mutiny from the soldiers in question.

He gets his answer later that night.

Naruto is almost asleep when he hears a sharp tapping at his window. He slides it open, blearily rubbing his eyes.

"It's me," a familiar voice says. "Do you remember?"

"No way," Naruto says, startling awake. "Haku?"

Haku nods, smiling slightly, but it doesn't reach his eyes.

"Get in here, it's freezing!" Naruto says. "How the hell did you manage to get here, anyway?"

"I have been...collecting information on Fire Nation military movements," Haku says. "I planned on delivering them to Hiashi Hyuuga himself, but it would have been impossible to sneak into his chambers. And I didn't have time to wait until morning."

"No time? What...Haku, what's going on?"

Haku takes a deep breath. "Miyako was a distraction. The real assault will begin in the Capitol, at dawn. Merely four hours away."

No, Naruto must not have heard that right. At dawn? This can't be happening. "That's impossible Haku!" He says. "The Capitol is surrounded by cities, there's no way they could get through it without cutting down the others - "

"Spies have snuck in," Haku says, "while troops were preoccupied at Miyako."

No fucking way.

Naruto and Haku race to Hiashi Hyuuga, who luckily is awake and having a heated discussion with Neji. He meets Haku's claims with skepticism, though Neji is unsurprised.

"Well, Naruto captured the commanding officer of the Fire Nation navy," Hiashi says. "Let's interrogate him and see what we can find."

"With all due respect," Neji speaks through gritted teeth, "if these claims are correct, we should evacuate as soon as possible."

"If they're correct," Hiashi says, smirking, "that would be satisfying for you, wouldn't it?"

Naruto catches a glimpse of Neji's expression as he, Hiashi, and Haku turn to leave. The look on his face is murderous.

-

The officer sits propped against the wall. He smiles lazily as they approach him.

"Aw, a special visit. Just for me?"

"Shut the fuck up," Naruto replies. "Alright, so how are we getting information out of him?"

"Allow me," Haku says. "I hope you're comfortable with bloodbending," he tells Hiashi.

"Do what you must," Hiashi responds, not taking his eyes off the officer.

The process must be excruciatingly painful. Haku punctures blood vessels under the officer's skin, and while Naruto knows they're at war, extended pain of this sort is something he can't stomach. He averts his eyes, hoping for it to be over soon.

It's not. The officer begins laughing halfway through, blood spilling out of his mouth.

"Is something funny?" Hiashi asks tightly.

"Oh, just that you're wasting your time torturing me over something you can't stop anyway."

Naruto heart stops. Time seems to move slowly as he considers his words. "So...it's true?"

The officer laughs hysterically. "Damnit, how slow are you? Of course it's fucking true. You think we expended all those troops to stop your textile trade? What the hell would we want from Miyako?"

"It doesn't make sense," Hiashi says furiously. "The Fire Nation wouldn't just throw away their troops - "

"They weren't thrown away," the officer replies. "It was a strategic sacrifice. I posed as the Fire Navy commander, so my higher ups could be safe. It was a sacrifice we agreed to, to protect our family. For the will of fire."

Of course. The people of the Fire Nation didn't see sacrificing their life for their country as a tragedy. It was an honor, made on behalf of their family.

"We need to evacuate everyone immediately!" Naruto snaps at Hiashi.

He isn't listening, repeating something to himself under his breath that sounds awfully like _Neji was right._

-

They don't evacuate.

"We stay and fight," Hiashi says. "We defend our home, just as the Fire Nation defends theirs - "

"This is reckless, Hiashi," Kakashi warns him. Neji is more straightforward.

"Have you lost your fucking mind?" He asks. "There's no telling what they've planned - it's likely they've had spies who are willing to die plant bombs everywhere, and will move the bulk of their troops into the city once it's in a weakened state. Is it so important to you to save face that you risk killing everyone in the city?"

Hiashi shakes his head. "We must display a strong front. If we evacuate, they'll know we were caught off guard - "

"They'll figure that out anyway!" Neji yells.

"F-father, I agree with Neji-nii-san..." Hinata Hyuuga adds, and Hiashi throws her a venomous look.

"I didn't ask you to speak," he says bitterly, and suddenly a heavy wave of water is lodged at him.

He evaporates it instantly, confused. Before him, Neji shifts into a fighting stance.

"I've had enough," Neji says. "You need to be removed now."

"What on earth do you think you're doing?" One of Hiashi's elderly advisors snaps at him.

"Section 213 of the Hyuuga clan code. The clan leader may be usurped via a water duel, though the new leader can be voted out. The voting takes days to process - you can take the title away from me after we've evacuated, I don't care."

"This is preposterous - " The advisor sputters, but Hiashi raises his hand calmly.

"Very well," he tells Neji. "Just remember that I am undefeated."

-

Naruto, Kakashi, Hinata and the advisors take their places at sides of the training grounds, where the match will take place, to act as witnesses.

Neji strikes first, swift as ever, but Hiashi is surprisingly nimble despite his age. He dodges every one of Neji's ice wheels with a step or two to the right or left, and strikes back by destabilizing the ice underneath Neji, disrupting his balance. Neji catches himself, but Hiashi uses the lapse in his movement to trap him.

The hold isn't strong enough. Neji breathes out, and the ice melts, allowing the match to continue.

"Just admit that you won't let us evacuate," Neji barely dodges a shard of ice, "because it would mean admitting you were wrong."

"If I were you, I would talk less and focus more." Hiashi pulls apart the block of ice Neji attempts to drop on his head, and reforms it into spikes, aimed directly at Neji's heart.

They continue like this for some time. Neji is a fierce fighter, but Hiashi has the slight edge he needs to come out of the match a victor. Another thing Naruto notices is that they are both aiming to kill. If Hiashi wins, Neji will die, and the city will collapse.

"Enough," Hiashi says suddenly, and Naruto recognizes his hand movements. Haku had made similar movements at the Fuchu stronghold - he is grasping the blood in Neji's heart.

Neji struggles to break free from his hold when suddenly, Hiashi's movement is thrown off as the ice shifts underneath him, crawling up his body.

To everyone's shock, Hinata is facing her father. Her graceful hands tilt upward, and the ice crawls towards Hiashi's throat.

"Keep struggling, father," she says quietly. "And you will suffocate."

"Hinata - " Hiashi gasps. "How could you - of all people - "

"I could tolerate your cruelty towards me," she says. "But sacrificing the lives of our people crosses the line."

The match is at a standstill. It is clear that if it is forced to continue, Hiashi will die. The advisor determining the victory hesitates, before saying, "Hiashi Hyuuga has lost. The winner is..."

"Hinata," Neji cuts in. He looks as though he's experienced a revelation. "The winner is Hinata."

The Advisor seems nervous. "Of course, there are rules against this, she interrupted an ongoing match making her victory illegitimate - "

"For fuck's sake," Naruto interrupts. "If we don't leave now, we are all gonna die! Do you really wanna spend your last moments talking about loopholes in your shitty laws?"

There is a silence.

"Well," Hinata says pleasantly, "I believe an evacuation is in order."

-

**iii. siege of the north**

From Miyako, they can see the bombs set by Fire Nation spies destroy Kiri.

The evacuation is quick and orderly - everyone but the most stubborn, who dismiss it as a conspiracy, are escorted out. The majority of the population is saved as they make their way to Miyako. It’s still devastating to watch Kiri fall apart - now, the only stronghold left standing, untouched by the Fire Nation, is Iwagakure in the Earth Kingdom. Neji was correct in more ways than one. Not only were there spies planting bombs in Kiri, but the army does in fact appear to be marching towards the capitol in its weakened state.

In the meantime, Miyako suffers from population density due to the massive influx of refugees from Kiri. There are food and housing shortages all over. Which is how Naruto, Kakashi and Sasuke end up in a tiny, cramped apartment.

It’s also why Naruto and Sasuke end up sharing a bed.

“Has anyone ever told you,” Naruto says, painstakingly attempting to keep a foot of distance between them despite being crammed together on a little bed, “that you make faces when you sleep?”

“I do not,” Sasuke says haughtily.

“You do. Totally. I never noticed because we’re usually in tents, but you look dumb as hell.”

“Well it's better to make faces,” Sasuke replies, “than to cling to anyone in the vicinity.”

Wait, what?

“I - I don't cling!” Naruto stammers out. “Especially not to an asshole like you!”

“Really, then explain why I had to pry you off me three separate times last night?”

Naruto blushes deeply. It probably is true, actually. It would be true because sometimes when him and Sasuke are close together like this, he has the strangest compulsion to reach out and touch - but that’s all it is, a compulsion! Like the morbid curiosity that drives you to watch an insect die as you crush it. Yeah, it’s exactly like that.

“You kick in your sleep!” Naruto retorts. Sasuke is actually a calm sleeper, but he doesn’t need to know that.

“Tch, you probably deserved it. You talk in your sleep too.”

“Lucky you, you get to hear my Avatar wisdom as you fall asleep. You're so ungrateful, Sasuke.” Naruto says loftily.

Sasuke smiles a bit, and Naruto is taken aback - because Sasuke smirks, and sometimes he gives his enemies this creepy grin that makes him look like a psychopath, but he doesn't smile. Not really.

“Naruto,” Sasuke begins, and Naruto is shocked to hear a tinge of uncertainty in his voice. “We’re going to battle tomorrow, you realize that right?”

“Well, duh. Why are you talking about it now?” Naruto can't help but feel a bit annoyed at the levity between them being shattered.

“...Just saying you should be careful, loser. You always get reckless, and I can’t always help you.”

“Sasuke, I don’t know if you noticed, but I took out entire ships by myself in our last battle. Yeah, they were kinda letting us win, but still! Entire. Ships. I can handle myself, okay bastard?”

Sasuke’s expression is strange, eyes searching Naruto for something, before he turns away.

“Okay,” he says stiffly. “Goodnight.”

-

If there’s one thing they're certain of, it’s that the Fire Nation won’t attack before dawn.

The freezing moonlight will diminish their firebending, which draws its power from the sun. The sun is weak in the arctic either way, and they can’t afford to dampen their power further.

Hinata sits where Hiashi used to, but her furs are black and blue rather than stark white. She smiles gently as Naruto approaches. It's shocking how well the throne suits her, considering the meek, underwhelming first impression she had given him, but her heart doesn't seem to be in it. It’s clear that this is an obligation for her rather than a luxury.

Naruto wonders why someone so battle averse had spent years teaching herself waterbending in secret.

“So, what’s the plan?” Naruto asks cheerfully as he enters the throne room. Hinata’s smile fades a bit.

“Well, Neji-nii-san has advised that we infiltrate the Fire Navy to take out the real captain, but we are a bit short on volunteers. Many people are unhappy with my rule.”

“Hey, don’t worry about it Hinata!” Naruto says. “You don’t need a whole group of people, you just need me and Sasuke!”

Hinata blinks. “Um, I don’t doubt your abilities, but…”

“Just trust me,” Naruto cuts her off. “Kicking Fire Nation ass is basically our job. Me, him and Kakashi are experts at this point. And since Kakashi is with Neji in strategy, you should put us on the field.”

Naruto can tell Hinata agrees with him but is second guessing her judgement, so he tries to seem reassuring. She smiles.

“Alright,” she says carefully. “You and Sasuke Uchiha will be on a mission to assassinate the captain. I’m placing my trust in you two.”

“And you won’t regret it!” Naruto shoots back.

“But I should assign at least one other person to guard you two,” she says. “I was thinking - why not take Haku?”

-

They infiltrate at night, to ensure the fire nation’s power is at its weakest.

They wear black furs with grey masks covering half their faces, easily allowing them to blend into the nighttime. Haku moves them forward on a block of ice, and lifts them into the ship with a surge of water.

“Anyone think they got a lucky guess on where the captain’s chambers are?” Naruto asks, grinning. He nearly stumbles as they climb onto the deck - no big deal, really, since he can just adjust himself with airbending - but Sasuke immediately loops an arm around his waist.

“I told you to be careful. Dumbass. The water is icy.” His eyes are oddly intense. Naruto scowls.

“I got it, alright? Don’t worry about me!”

He barely makes it a step forward onto the deck before Sasuke catches his arm again.

“...You were walking loudly,” Sasuke whispers to him. Naruto glares at him.

He lets Sasuke go up front so he doesn't have an excuse to watch him like a hawk from behind, and they sneak into the private chambers. Haku looks at them thoughtfully, before whispering in Naruto’s ear, “are you two a couple?”

Naruto is really, really glad that wasn't said at a volume loud enough for Sasuke to hear.

“What?!” He says a little too loudly, grinning sheepishly when Sasuke turns to raise an eyebrow at him. “I mean...what? What would make you think that? That’s crazy. Insane. Impossible. Never in a million years. Not even if he was a girl. I have never thought about it in my life. It is completely, totally - “

“Alright.” Haku says easily. “Just curious.” He continues walking as if their exchange meant nothing, and Naruto follows stupidly behind him.

They continue in silence for a while, ducking into empty rooms whenever they hear a guard approaching, before Sasuke finally speaks to them, very quietly.

“The captain’s name is Asuma Sarutobi,” Sasuke says to them. “That's what our intel says. He was the former Fire Lord’s son. Extremely patriotic, but not especially dangerous. What we need to worry about are his henchmen.”

“Anko and Ibiki,” Naruto mutters. And that chi-blocking Root agent, Sai...he wonders where that organization came from, because they weren't officially listed as part of the Fire Lord’s protection detail. “Those pricks had me locked up a few weeks ago.”

“Aw, he remembers us.”

Naruto’s blood chills at the voice behind him.

Anko is standing there, flipping a kunai up and down in her hand. Ibiki is next to her, scarred and menacing. Sai, nimble as ever, strikes first, and Naruto pulls Sasuke out of the way. Haku dodges cleanly on his own.

“Don't ever let him touch you!” Naruto says to Sasuke. “He can block your bending temporarily!”

“I see I made an impression,” Sai says, before launching himself once again at Naruto.

They lose themselves in a swirl of hand to hand combat and bending. From the corner of his eye, Naruto can see Asuma Sarutobi leaving his chambers to escape.

“We have to get him!” He cries out. “I promised Hinata!”

“There’s no time, the entire ship will be alerted in a minute!” Sasuke says. “We have to get back to the deck so I can give the emergency signal.” A single bolt of lightning, shot up in the air. It works as their signal because Sasuke is one of the few competent lightning users on the planet.

“He’s right,” Haku says, moving his hands swiftly so ice crawls up Sai, Anko, and Ibiki’s bodies, temporarily immobilizing them. “We need to go, and fast.”

They manage to escape, but there is no relief in their victory. For the Fire Nation will undoubtedly attack by dawn, and they have not made a single dent in their military force.

-

The sky is splintered red and black, its crisp blue contaminated by smoke and fire.

They join Neji and Hinata at the front lines, warding off the Fire Nation’s forces until nightfall, when the Water tribes will have an advantage once again.

It's chaos; the smooth, fluid movements of waterbending should serve as a natural counter to the straightforward aggression of firebending, but the sheer size of their forces threatens to overwhelm them.

“Lady Hinata,” Captain Sarutobi greets her on the battlefield, as she neatly disposes of two soldiers before healing her own wounds. “I see you fight on the front lines. Is the water tribe’s leader so expendable?”

“And I hear your Fire Lord hardly ever accompanies his men in battle at all,” Hinata says softly, not missing a beat. “Is the Fire Nation’s leader such a coward?”

Sarutobi’s face twists in rage, and he launches a fireball at her, which she quickly freezes.

They regroup later on, exhausted from a day of warfare.

“Well, I can't say the battle is going well,” Kakashi says wearily.

“When is it ever going well?” Neji asks. “Though there must be a more...efficient way to do this. We are currently holding them back purely through persistence, nothing more.”

“What about the spirits?” Hinata asks. Everyone turns to look at her.

“What about them?” Sasuke replies.

“The Avatar acts as a bridge between the Spirit and Physical worlds. What if Naruto were to contact the Moon and Ocean spirits, the patrons of the Water Tribes?” Hinata says.

“You’re suggesting we rely on divine intervention,” Neji says skeptically.

“Honestly, at this point, it’s worth a try.” Naruto mutters. “I’ve never actually contacted spirits, but I’ll figure out a way. It’s either we get some serious backup, or we all die.”

No one can argue with that.

They take him to an oasis with two koi fish swimming in the center - the physical manifestations of the moon and ocean spirits.

“On the winter solstice, it is said that the line between our world and the Spirits is blurred. Naruto may not have done this before, but this isn't a bad time to try,” Hinata tells them. Naruto nods at her words and steps into the warm oasis water, wondering what to do next.

“Feeling connected yet?” Sasuke asks.

“Shut up, I’m trying, okay?” Naruto mutters. He squints his eyes shut tightly. He’d wanted to contact the Spirit World many times before, wanted advice from Madara, the previous Avatar. But Madara was infamous for his insanity, and most temples dedicated to him had long been demolished. Even the Fire Nation didn't attempt to claim him. Naruto was almost worried about what he might find.

He stays still for a moment longer, and when he opens his eyes, the oasis is gone. The air around him is hazy, the creatures surrounding him half animal and half human. He trudges through strange, murky water, hoping for a guiding sign.

“I was wondering when you would try to find me, Naruto.”

He whips around at the sound of a deep, rich baritone. There is a man standing there. Wild hair, broad shoulders. Bloodshot eyes. A Sarcastic smile. Madara Uchiha.

“I suppose you have questions. You're lucky - I can offer you glimpses anywhere in the world. But be warned that time moves slowly in the Spirit World. Events that are in the present time for us may have already passed for the physical realm.”

“I need a way to defeat the Fire Nation,” Naruto says hurriedly. “Some way to summon the spirits, or - “

“Help from the spirits?” Madara cackles wildly. “Stupid child. The spirits need help from you. The moon spirit in particular is in danger...one strike to her fragile, physical form, and the Water Tribe’s carefully honed combat art disappears for good.”

“What are you talking about?” Naruto snarls. “What’s the Fire Nation planning?”

“What do you think, boy? But never mind asking me - why don’t I show you?”

A portal of sorts opens in front of them, revealing a Fire Nation meeting.

 _You reach the oasis,_ Asuma Sarutobi is directing Ibiki, Anko, and Sai. _And you finish off the Moon for good._

 _But this will damage the Water Tribes irreparably. We only need to capture the leadership, not harm civilians, correct?_ Sai asks. His face is plain and calm as ever, but there's a catch in his voice.

 _Incorrect. Sai, your orders are to devastate the Water Tribes. When will you learn to do as you're told?_ An unfamiliar voice says behind them. _Do not disappoint me again._

The portal closes, and Naruto stumbles back.

“What,” he pants, “the fuck?”

“That’s right. They plan to attack the Water tribes at their source.”

“Why did Sai hesitate?” Naruto wonders. Madara chuckles.

“The Fire Lord’s private mercenaries are divided into two subsections. Half are in ANBU, where they choose to be, and half in Root, who are essentially drugged and brainwashed since childhood until they know nothing but to serve him. Sai is conflicted, but his mind is not his own. He doesn't have a choice.” Madara explains. Naruto feels sick.

“I’ve gotta get down there!” He cries out. “I have to stop this.”

“Take a message from the Kudan first.” Madara nods towards a strange creature approaching them. “They are known to be prophetic.”

It's a spirit with a calf’s body and a young, human face. It bows low at the sight of Naruto.

“So what, you're gonna tell me the future?” Naruto asks. The kudan looks somber.

“I don’t see the future. I see patterns. I see the path you carve, the path others carve, where they converge, and where one overwhelms the other.”

“Yeah, yeah. So what’s this big, bad prophecy you've got for me anyway?” Naruto snaps at him. The kudan keeps looking at him with its huge, luminous eyes.

“All I have to say,” it whispers, “is you've already lost.”

-

When Naruto opens his eyes again, he’s greeted with a massacre.

The Moon Spirit is slashed in half, though it’s clear Sasuke and Hinata put up quite the fight defending her, as Ibiki and Anko are dead. Sai is nowhere to be found. Hinata is unconscious against a tree, deeply wounded. Sasuke is injured but standing, his sword gleaming red with blood. Naruto gazes at the moon spirit in horror.

“Is she…” Naruto gestures to Hinata, heart pounding. Sasuke shakes his head.

“She’s alive, don’t worry.”

“Thank god,” Naruto says, and tears threaten to spill out of his eyes. He wipes them furiously, refusing to be weak in front of Sasuke.

"And Kakashi? Neji?"

"Kakashi is trying to escort people out of the city. Neji had to retreat. The Hyuuga clan's life force is intertwined with the Moon spirit's. Without it, they're weak."

Sasuke thrusts his sword into the sacred water, washing off the blood. He grips it tightly. “Let’s get moving then.”

“Moving?” Naruto asks. He’s disoriented, feeling like he’s been dropped into another reality. Sasuke stares at him.

“To assess their extent of the damage,” he says clinically, and Naruto understands.

The streets of Miyako, once so languid and calm, are revolting. The smell of death and decay lingers at every corner. Fire Nation soldiers take advantage of the lack of waterbending to slaughter everyone in their path. Non bending warriors bravely fight their way through, but without their fiercest line of defense, the Water Tribes’ armies are incredibly vulnerable.

The metallic scent of blood and the sight of burnt, rotting corpses force bile up Naruto’s throat. He ducks behind an icy carved building, needing to catch his breath. Sasuke is at his side immediately.

Naruto wonders how he can be so calm. Then he realizes this isn't Sasuke’s first massacre.

“I should've saved them,” Naruto whispers, and tears stream down his face. He hates that Sasuke is seeing him this way, but he can’t bring himself to stop. “I should've done more.”

Sasuke is silent, though his eyes have grown sympathetic. Naruto’s shoulders shake with the force of his sobs.

“If we’d fought harder, smarter, then none of this would've happened!” He says, viciously angry.

“That may be true,” Sasuke says calmly. “But are you really giving up now, Naruto?”

A lone firebender lunges at them from behind the corner, and Sasuke impales him without even looking back.

“Because I’m not,” he says, and walks towards the approaching army.

It’s that simple then.

Naruto remembers his devastation and rage and hopelessness at the Southern Air Temple. He remembers realizing he still had something to fight for. He feels that strength again, rising in him.

“Sasuke,” he says, “I’m coming too.”

And suddenly, it’s as if something clicks. The water from the canals surrounds him, and a chill courses through his body. Something probes at the edges of his consciousness. It’s as if the ocean itself speaks to him, asking for entry into his mindscape.

He accepts the spirit into his mind. _What do you want us to do?_ He asks.

The spirit’s voice is rumbling and ancient, as he replies.

_Kill them all._

-

They plough forward savagely, uncaring of the Fire Nation soldiers that scatter. It doesn't matter if they surrender now. They sealed their fate when they killed the Moon.

The Ocean tells Naruto who to kill, and he does. Naruto protests only once, emboldening his will over the Ocean's to spare Sai, who was attempting to shield innocents. The Ocean complies, but grudgingly so. All Fire Nation soldiers look the same to him now.

As Naruto wields the Ocean's power to tear apart ships and soldiers alike, Hiashi Hyuuga walks to the Oasis. He thinks of what his life has been up until now. A life of inflicting suffering on the innocent. A life of failure and regret.

The Hyuuga Clan has been kissed by Moon, as the legend goes. Hiashi has never put much stock into legends, but he wants, for once, to do something good.

He closes his eyes, and sinks underneath the water.

-

It was easy to turn the tides on the war once the Moon was once again glowing in the dimness of the night. The icy-blue palette of the Water Tribes was illuminated once again, no longer a parched, unlit grey. The Fire Nation was warded off, Asuma Sarutobi captured and executed.

Now all that's left is to rebuild.

"I can't believe Father drained his own life force to save the Moon Spirit," Hinata says quietly. She is strangely neutral on the matter - not celebrating his death, but not quite mourning it either.

"I can," Neji says scathingly. "His throne was the most important thing to him. After you took it and his incompetence was exposed, he didn't have much to live for, did he?"

"But I don't want the throne," Hinata tells him. "In fact, I want to pass it to someone else."

"Who?"

She smiles. "You."

Neji looks stunned. Naruto claps him on the back, laughing.

"Come on, man, you deserve it. You made all the smart sounding plans!"

"Hm, and you swept away the entire army." Neji says, smiling. "So perhaps you've earned credit too."

Naruto still needs to learn waterbending, but they have a solution for that. Hinata was tired of being confined by palace walls, after all.

"We'd love to have you around!" Naruto says cheerfully, and Hinata beams.

"Thank you, I've just always wanted to travel..." They chat back and forth about the places they'll see together, and Naruto is excited to have found a new friend.

There is one more person to thank, however. But he can never seem to find the words.

"Hey, bastard." Naruto says, approaching Sasuke.

"Loser," Sasuke shoots back.

They stare at each other silently, until Naruto can't help himself - he throws his arms around him.

"What's this?" Sasuke asks, awkwardly returning the embrace.

"It's a hug, you might've heard of it." Naruto replies roughly.

He wonders if he's imagining that Sasuke grips him tighter, ever so slightly.

-

Coda

-

Itachi Uchiha walks quietly through the red, ornate corridors of the Fire Lord's personal chambers. It's the only place in the country where he can be seen, but he never lets his guard down either way.

"I hear you tried to convince the Avatar to disappear," Danzo says, as Itachi enters the room. Itachi hangs his head in respect.

"I did. I did not want to lead him into the hands of the Akatsuki, but my orders were merely to collect intel. Attempting to capture him on behalf of the Fire Nation would have exposed me."

"And what intel have you gathered?"

Itachi sighs. "Not much. I am not high enough in the ranks, and Nagato is a private man. I know they plan to use the Avatar as a weapon against every nation in the world, but I don't know why or how as of now."

"Convincing the Avatar to disappear could have compromised your cover too." Danzo points out. "Nevertheless, our priorities have shifted. I want you to aid the Akatsuki in capturing the Avatar, but deliver him to the Fire Nation instead. It will compromise you eventually, but you must be prepared."

"I understand," Itachi says. "But what brought about this change?"

"Anko and Ibiki were failures, and my protégé Sai is a traitor," Danzo says, from his cushioned seat. "This task must be entrusted to you."

Itachi bows, ready to take his leave, when Danzo speaks again.

"And remember," Danzo adds, smiling sadistically, "your brother's life is on the line."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ok a few things
> 
> \- the kudan is a real thing in japanese folklore, and was even rumored to be actively predicting catastrophes during wwii (never proved obviously, since half calf half human spirits don't exist)
> 
> \- sorry to do All That to anko, she's actually not ooc here because she was entertained by the thought of kids killing each other in the chunin exams and is easy to write as a villain but you know, i hate killing off hot women
> 
> \- hiashi isn't replacing the moon spirit the way yue did in atla canon, he just gave up his hyuuga life force so she could live. imagine being the ocean spirit and your moon girlfriend dying only to be replaced by an aging slave owner. it just wasn't happening.
> 
> \- look at me go, updating in a week like a normal person instead of taking months like i usually do. istg im gonna remember corona 2020 as that year i wrote a shit ton of naruto fanfiction
> 
> anyway, lmk your thoughts ❤️


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